Princess of District Twelve
by phoenixrider66
Summary: " In Seventy-four years, we have had exactly two victors, only one is still alive"- Katniss, The Hunger Games. We all know Haymitch was the second...but who was the first? What happened to her? Finally, the story of Odette will be told. The story of the very first victor of District Twelve, winner of the Twenty-fifth Hunger games
1. Chapter 1

My body shook as I looked at the small white paper in front of me. At the top printed **Girl Tribute: **and right below it was **Boy Tribute: .** It did not seem real , it felt like a dream. Looking around, others did not seem fazed by this at all. " All right everybody! Hurry hurry! The reaping is tomorrow! We need the votes!" says the District Twelve escort, Charon wearing a ridiculous purple wig with a matching sparkly Tuxedo. Looking back down at my still empty piece of paper, one thought crosses my mind, _"I cant do this". _I quickly fold my tiny act of rebellion and hand it up. As I hand it up, another thought crosses my mind " whoever is voted, at least I wont have anything to do with it". The bell rings that dismisses us for the day. "Don't forget everybody the reaping is tomorrow!" how could we forget?

I guess I should tell you about myself. My name is Odette. Besides the mayor, my family is one of the richest in the district. My dad doesn't exactly own the coal mines, the Capitol does. So he's kind of like the manager I suppose. Anyway, I stand out , in other words, I look nothing like the other people here. I'm not tan like everyone else, like at all. I'm pretty much the opposite of everyone else. Pale skin, hair so blonde it's almost white, and petite. I should feel lucky, but I don't. I don't really have any friends, maybe some acquaintances, but that's it. I know people are starving here and I know it's not fair, I wish we could help some people. I wish they didn't have to work in the horrible mines for so little money. "_ I wish we didn't have to vote for the tributes this year". _I shouldn't waste time wishing when they won't come true anyway.

Walking home from school, I run my hand across the cold metal of the fence. I longingly gaze at the forest beyond it and how it seems to go on forever. " It would be so cool... just for a bit, to see what the forest was like, _to escape this world, just for a bit_." I know some kids who do go beyond the fence, to hunt for their meals. I pity them, I really do, but at least they have friends, and family that's close. So what if I eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day? My stomach may be full, but my heart is an empty wasteland. My parents are almost _never _home. They leave early in the morning, So I eat breakfast alone. Apparently because I have money I must be stuck up, therefore I have no friends and nobody sits with me at lunch.

I walk up the steps to our house and walk inside. "...Hello?", No answer. Oh, did I mention I usually eat dinner alone too? Id rather be unsure of my next meal, and have friends and close family, than... live the life im living now. I sit alone as I eat and sulk up to bed. My parents will be home tomorrow, of course it has to be the worst day of the year. I flop on my bed and before I drift off one more thought crosses my mind "...Tomorrow will be interesting"

"Ew, why am I up so early?" I think. Its 6:00 AM, the reaping isn't until 10:00. Trudging downstairs, PLOT TWIST... nobody's home. Sighing I pull some random fruit out of the fridge and without even looking, bite into it. An explosion of sour floods my mouth and the flavor numbs my taste buds. Heaving I realize I bit out of a lemon, yuck. Carefully pulling out an apple I try again. As I sit all alone, a thought crosses my mind. There is always something I wanted to do... I look at the clock, 6:15, perfect. I quickly run upstairs to change into the most earthy thing I could find, which isnt much.. ( Oh by the way I make the outfits on Polyvore, I will try to post links on my profile but if all else fails, My profile name is Phoenixrider66). I head out the door in the direction of the fence.

It's reasonably warm out for mid October. The sun is starting to rise, "Maybe ill just catch the sun rise!". Finally reaching the fence, I take a deep breath and climb through the loose part. It feels odd, looking at everything on the other side of the fence, turning around I stop in my tracks. The golden sun is rising over the orange cream sickle colored sky. As if the sky was freshly painted in beautiful ,faint strokes. The clouds are dark pink, almost violet, and mixed with the crimson red, bright yellow and faint orange leaves of the trees, it's a glorious symphony of color that takes my breath away. Before I can stop myself I whisper "Wow". I allow the tears to just flow. "_I wish i could just stand here forever". _Suddenly my mind snaps back and I realize the danger im in. "What im doing is dangerous, _illegal , __**punishable by**_** death, **and here I am standing out in the open! I must be more careful!" I quickly make my way into the forest.

Its like another planet under the tress. So different from what im always used to. Its sensory overload. So many sounds, the birds singing their melodies, squirrels scurrying up the trees, crunching of the leaves as I walk along. Leaves are constantly falling off the trees, making it rain vibrant color, painting the earth around me. Before I can be stopped, I start to laugh. " This is wonderful!". _My heart is content here._

I extend my hand to catch I falling leaf, it gently lands, only the size of my palm. The fragile leaf is deep crimson and bright yellow. I put it in my hair, behind my ear. Leaning against an old oak, my hand softly rests against the old,textured bark. If this tree could talk, it would be very wise, have many stories, many wise words...closing my eyes I take a deep breath in. Suddenly, the distinct sound of a branch snapping, _Crack!_ My eyes fly open as I become alert to my surroundings. About thirty feet in front of me is a tall human figure facing the other direction. I can't clearly make out his features, only that its a man. Holding my breath, backing away slowly " I just need to calmly back away and..."

**RIINNG! **The bells of the justice building ring, reminding the district the reaping is only an hour away. "Shit! 9:00 already?!". The sound of branches snapping gets closer behind me, as I realize he heard it too. As he starts sprinting towards me, I take off. My brain screams at my legs to run faster. The world is a blur around me. Finally I'm out of the woods. The fence only thirty feet away...Twenty feet...Ten feet...five... Panicking, I quickly struggle to get through the fence. Once I'm through, I turn for one last look. The man is just standing there..._Watching..._

Barreling through the door, I turn to lock it and slump of the floor. My heart is thundering in my ears. Finally after a minute, I stand up, to see my parents concerned faces. "Where on earth where you young lady?! We were worried sick! and only half an hour..." "Sorry mom! I just went for a jog and I'm going upstairs to change!" I say before Dashing upstairs without another word.

The dress my mother laid out for me is beautiful. A soft green dress with light pink accents (this one is on polyvore) pink flats with my grandmothers jewelry. Looking in the mirror I realize the leaf is still in my hair. Laughing, the leaf is placed on my bedside table. "May I come in?" my mother says. Giving permission, my mother enters and places her hand over her mouth, "you look..so beautiful." she walks over to braid my hair in a updo. When she's done, the last bell rings out, telling us its time.

We walk with a grievous silence, as if we are going to a funeral. Well, we pretty much are. In the twenty-five years of the hunger games, we have had no victors. Being picked as tribute in district Twelve is basically a death sentence. When we arrive to the ginormous, but dull Justice Building, we all line up. Once they have accounted for me, I'm herded with other kids my age like sheep into a big crowd. After a bit, Charon and some other important people walk on stage. "Welcome, welcome! Happy Hunger Games! Before we get started we have a special message, sent all the way from the Capitol!" He steps away from the microphone and a very handsome man appears on the screen. Tall and very well-built, his black hair slicked back, with just a bit of stubble. If it were anyone else, I would probably be drooling, but this man is a monster, he's the reason we are all here, _President Snow._

He gives a brief speech on the war that led to the hunger games, and how "courageous" we are for sacrificing ourselves for our country, as if we choose too. He finishes his speech with that dumb saying. "May the odds be ever in your favor". The screen goes black and Charon sprightly steps back up to the microphone. "All right boys and girls! Nows the time weve all been waiting for!" "Yeah, waiting to get over with." i think to myself. " Its time to reveal the Boy and Girl tributes that YOU voted for! Cross your finger everybody!" The emotionless mayor steps up holding a silver tray with one blue and one pink envelope on it. "Laddies first!" He delicately picks up the envelope and starts to open it. I have no reason to be nervous,not for me anyway. I pity the poor people who get picked. I close my eyes

Time slows down as he unfolds the paper, and reads the name,

**_My name._**

**Please review if you like it! If not, tell me what I should fix. Im open to any criticism.****_ Anything I can do to be better! :)_**

**_As_**** I said before, I have Polyvore account with some of the outfits she will be wearing. I ill try my best to get them on my profile but if not, my account name is Phoenixrider66.**

**I need to ask you all a favor! I have a friend, Kornerbrandon. He wants to write a story, a SYOT (Submit your own tribute) but there are some male spots he cant seem to fill, AT THE MOMENT. If you are interested, please look him up and submit a tribute! I have even submitted a couple tributes ( one that is even in this story!), please if you are interested submit a tribute!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Time slowed as Charon picked up the pink envelope and gently tore it open. Everything went black as I slowly shut my eyes.

"Odette Bloodwell!"

Everything stopped. The earth stopped spinning, the birds stopped singing, and my blood went frigid. My heart dropped, it freefell all the way to the ground and hit it with a _splat!_ As my eyes fly open, and I realize..._this is real. _All eyes are on me, people move out of the way, forming a path up to the stage. " Come on dear, its alright!" Charon says unreassuringly. My body will not respond. Two peace keepers come and half guide half shove me up to the stage. The crowd is one big blurry glob. The tears must be coming, but I cannot tell other than my sight. Charon walks up to me, puts his hand on my shoulder, leans in and smiles, " Congratulations dear" he says with a nod and walks back over to the silver tray and picks up the lone blue envelope. Wiping the hot tears away, I get a chance to actually look at the crowd. The look of shame was painted on most of their faces, some even had their heads down. Charon tears open the blue envelope and says the name into the microphone. "Orion Hevlen!" The sea of boys part and walking up to the stage is my exact opposite. He's tall, tan, dark brown hair, and he's got muscles. He walks up to the stage unemotionally and accepts the congrats from Charon. "Please give a big round of applause to the District Twelve tributes, _you chose ,_ of the Twenty Fifth Hunger Games, Odette and Orion!". The crowd hesitantly claps. " Go on you two, shake hands!" Charon says. Turning toward the boy, I reach my shaking hand out toward him. He quickly reaches out to take my hand in his. We shake and before he lets go he gives my hand a squeeze. A small sense of reassurance washes over me as I gaze into his big chocolate eyes. Charon takes both of us and leads us into the Justice Building.

My head is in my hands when my parents burst through the door. Mother runs to me and hugs me with a strong grip. "Oh my baby, my poor baby!" she cries as she strokes my hair. Father has his hands behind his back, brow furrowed as he paces the length of the room. Mother breaks from her crying and yells " Those bastards! how could they?! What did you ever do to them?!". Wiping my eyes I respond, "Why do they hate me?" Father stops his pacing and says something for the first time " They don't hate you, Odette." He turns and looks me straight in the eyes "They envy you". Letting his words sink in, I ask " What do I do?" Mother takes my head in her hands " You. Win. That is what you will do. You will try, and you will survive and you will win. You will show them what you are made of." The guards open the door and come in " Times up". After one last hug from my mother, she says, " I love you, we will see you soon", as they are escorted out.

Orion and I say silently beside each other on the luxurious capitol train for a while until Charon came into the train car with another man behind him. " Orion, Odette, meet Onyx" (I SWEAR I don't have an obsession with names that start with O! It just happened! lol) " Hey guys, how are ya doin?" he says nonchalantly as he shakes our hands. He's pretty average, mid 50s, about 5'11 light brown hair with a growing beard, but he's very muscular. " He took time out of his busy schedule to come all the way from the Capitol to mentor you guys." Charon says. Before I can help it my jaw drops. Onyx gives me a puzzled look, " Is something wrong?". "N-no, you just look...so normal to be coming from the Capitol!" Most people I have seen from the Capitol look like extraterrestrials, he also lacks the silly accent. Charon gives me a shocked look, while Onyx throws his head back with laughter. " I like you Odette!" he says and pats me on the back. Charon look relieved. " Oh my I almost forgot! The replays of the reapings and on, why don't we watch?". With a sigh I follow everybody into the living area. We plop down onto the Purple velvet couch and Charon turns on the TV...projection...thing.

We made it just in time to see the District one reapings. The girl is a short blonde named Pearl. Although her height, she's got muscles. The boy is tall and muscular with dark hair combed to a point. His eyes are as Black as coal, his name is Deimos. For District Two, both the boy and girl are tall and lanky with fiery red hair, a brother and sister, Helix and Aelia. The reaping continues without anything interesting, except I notice something throughout all the tributes. The District kids Choose tributes that are the most capable of winning for the district, so why was I chosen? I am in no way capable of winning for District Twelve. I was lost in thought, until the District Eleven reapings. The girl chosen, Marcella, dark skin, tall and lean. She puts on a menacing face as she walks up to the stage. The boy is picked, the camera goes to him, and my blood goes cold. He's got to be 6'5, with tree trunks for arms, Talc. He's got dark skin, dark hair. He appears to be talking to himself as his eyes nervously dart back and forth. They announce his name again and he snaps out of it and walks up to the stage. I cant quite put my finger on it, but something seems off about him, but now its time for District Twelve. I start to shake, because I know once people see me, they with laugh. Orion notices and gently places his hand on my knee, " Its ok" he mouths and looks back at the screen. Taking a deep breath I prepare to see myself on national television.

'

**I'm sorry this one is really short! the next one will be longer! **

**I have to admit, I'm having ALOT of fun writing and developing these new characters! more fun than I thought I would. and I'm happy to say there will be more character development in the future, especially with a District Eleven boy who has a disturbing secret... (ohhh the suspense!)**

**If you enjoy my story, please favorite, follow and review! I'm completely open to any reviews, if you like it, tell me why, if you wanna tell me something I should improve on, that's fine too! And I promise the next chapter will be longer! Until next time! **

** ~Maddy **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter** 3**

Charon appears on the screen, he says a couple of words then lifts the pink envelope and starts to open it. It all happens a lot faster than I remember it. He takes the pink slip of paper and reads my name into the microphone. The camera finds me easily as the girls move away to form a path to the stage. I'm immediately embarrassed as the camera zooms in on me. All the other tributes walked onto the stage emotionless, or even excitedly...then there's me. There I stand, like a lump on a log, crying. Shamefully, I put my head down, knowing i'll be the laughing stock of the games. Tears threaten to emerge, but they are forced back. Before I know it, its over. Now its back to the Claudius Show, him and the head game maker now will discuss the reaping and tributes. " Now that the children of the districts had a chance to choose their tributes, it should be interesting seeing the districts toughest kids go head to head! Do you think they did a good job picking the tributes?" Claudius says to the game maker. " I thought they were doing great! Up until District Twelve...". My head shoots up and my stomach drops. " It seems they chose beauty over brawn with the girl tribute! She seemed surprised too! You'd think they'd do a better job picking someone that could win for the district!". The tears I forced back minutes before were now streaming down my face. Anger, sadness, embarrassment all wash over me. Immediately, I stand and start stomping out of the train car when Orion stood and grabbed my arm " Odette wait!" he says. I shake his arm off and stomp back to my room.

Slamming and locking the door to my bathroom, I collapse into a heap on the cold tile floor. " How could they? Sit up on the stage and laugh at me...I never wanted this!" The thought just brings more tears . " All the other tributes...they are laughing at me too... and they will be laughing as they kill me in the arena in a week." Rushing to the toilet, I open the lid and start to dry heave. After about five minutes, I calm down enough to move away from the toilet and just lie on the floor and sob. I let my flushed cheek touch the cold floor, and it actually helps calm me. Suddenly, there is a knock at the door. " Leave me alone!" I scream and start sobbing again. They must have got one of the avoxes to unlock the door because it then opens and someone walks in. Sitting up and turning to the door Orion and Charon stand at the door with somber faces while Onyx walks to me and kneels down beside me. " Odette..." he says as he places a hand on my shoulder. Before he can say anymore I say through my sobbing " How am I supposed to try with everyone laughing at me?! I knew I didn't have a chance before, but now...why should I even try?". Onyx immediately brings me into a tight hug. He looks up at Charon and Orion "Can we have a moment alone?". They nod and slowly make their way out of the room. " Odette, _listen to me_. For the time being you need to be deaf. You need to block out all the words and names they call you, just for the time being." Taking a break from sobbing I muster " _How am I supposed to stand my ground when_ _everyone wants to bury me beneath it?". _He sighs " Odette, right now, you are the underdog of the group, but that's not a complete disadvantage". "How?! How is it not a complete disadvantage?!" I cry . He stops and looks me in the eyes " W_e grew up learning to cheer on the underdog __because we see ourselves in them. _All those poor, hungry people in the districts will look at you, you are at a disadvantage, but you need to keep your head up if you want to make an impact on people, and trust me, you will. Please, promise me, you will stand your ground and ignore everybody else". I nod " I promise".

Onyx walks out of Odette's room and quietly shuts the door. Charon stands outside the door, waiting. "How is she?" he asks. "She's better. I think she's strong enough to take what they say about her, but I still worry" Onyx says. " I wish we could tell her... you know? Why she's really here...". Charon sighs " As sad as it is, she should have known the Capitol does not take lightly to such things...". After a heavy silence, Onyx speaks " Where's Orion?". "He's already eaten and is in his room". "Alright, well lets just call it a night, after everything that happened, I don't think food is on her mind". They both say goodnight and head to their rooms.

The next morning doesn't come quickly, since I was sobbing half the night. Sunshine filled the luxurious room. At first I don't remember a thing, but the moment my head lifts off the pillow, everything comes rushing back. The reaping, everyone laughing at me, what Onyx said to me last night... I want to cry again, but remembering what Onyx said... I need to be strong, crying wont help me in my situation. Dragging my body out of bed I comb through my hair, throw on some clothes and head out to the dining car. Everybody else is already there, chatting casually and laughing. Once they notice me at the door they go silent. " Good morning Odette, why don't you take a seat, you must be hungry since you didn't eat dinner" Onyx says. I nod and slowly make my way to the table and sit. Filling my plate with the colorful array of food I ask " What were you guys talking about?". Charon says " Hm? Oh! We were discussing what will happen once we arrive at the Capitol, when we get there, you and Orion will be taken to the underground area to get prepped for the tribute parades. You will then meet your stylists". "Our stylists?" I ask. "They will design your outfits for the parade and the interview". I nod, then ask " When will we arrive at the Capitol?". Orion suddenly stands and looks out the window before he says " Now, we're here".

We are immediately led out of the train underground into the "Spa Area". There are quotations because it was not a relaxing experience whatsoever, I feel more violated then relaxed. They ripped every hair on my body besides the hair on my head out with wax, or they plucked them, then Scrubbed about three layers of skin off. After an hour of violation they led me to a room and made me stand there in just a towel. I began to protest but they quickly left. Soon, the door opened again, an attractive young black woman enters. She wears a tight pink dress and black high heels. She wears little makeup, but has jem implants on her right shoulder. "Hello Odette. My name is Lysithia, I will be your stylist". "Hello" I say meekly. "You must be uncomfortable, I understand, but I must ask you to remove your towel, so I can get a better idea of your body type". Sighing, I let the towel drop. Lysithia circles me for about a minute, then hands me a thin robe and we sit and chat. "Well Odette, I must say, you are very beautiful" all I can muster is a "thanks". An avox arrives with a tray of colorful, exotic drinks. " Oh, no thank you, I can't" Lysithia says " How about you Odette?" the tray leans toward me. I take one and thank her. "Oh, does this have alcohol in it?" I ask. The avox nods. Hell, why not? I take a sip and am surprised how good it tastes, being my first taste of alcohol. "Why can't you drink?" I ask. "Well, I just have to be careful..." she says as her hands fall to her stomach. "Oh, your pregnant!" I say and smile, I've always wanted a family of my own... "Well, I don't know yet. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow to find out". she says and her face turns somber. "I was told I could never have children, but that doesn't stop me from trying". Smiling, I say "That's really great, that you still have hope. Do you want a boy or a girl?". She smiles " I really don't care, I'll love them no matter boy or girl. One, just one. That's all I ask for, because I know whoever they are, they will make a great impact on Panem" she says and wipes a tear. "Whew! Anyway back to you! Tonight is the tribute parade, and for your costumes, you will be coal miners". I nod trying to disguise my disappointment. "You don't have to hide it, I know your not happy about it" with a laugh. But, trust me, it will be very different from other years. Now that I got a better look at you, I know what I want to do. Follow me".

**I know this chapter was kinda boring, im sorry! It will get a lot more interesting from here on! **

**and by the way, so I don't get in trouble, two of the quotes, one from Odette and one from Onyx are from the Poem "_Pork chop" _by Shane Kyczan with the To this day project.**

**Also Lysithia is on Polyvore. Just look up Phoenixrider66 on polyvore and it will be up.**

**Once again, please review , favorite and follow if you like the story! The reviews really make me feel good and fuel my passion to write and keep going with the story!**

**Till next time!**

** ~Maddy**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"Well, what do you think?" Lysithia asks. I barely hear her as I'm trying to recognize myself in the mirror. I'm dressed as a sexy coal miner with heavy black eyeliner, eye shadow, extra long eyelashes and crimson lipstick. I'm wearing a gray tube top, with tight black shorts , suspenders, knee high lace up boots, and of course, a helmet. To add extra sex appeal, I have dusty black handprints on my torso, thighs , back and chest. " Its... defiantly a lot different from anything I've ever worn...". Orion and his stylist enter the room and as he sees me, his eyes go wide. He's wearing a slightly modified version of my costume. He's completely shirtless, letting his tan, toned chest show. Like me, he's wearing black shorts and suspenders, he has handprints on his chest and back. His hair is messed up, but in a sexy way, and his helmet is slightly crooked. His face suddenly turns a deep shade of scarlet as he quickly turns away. My face feels hot, so I'm probably blushing too. Charon enters and exclaims " Oh my! You two look fabulous!". He gives our stylists a pat on the back " Well done! Oh no! Look at the time! We are almost running late! Lets head down awhile shall we?" He offers me his arm, and I take it. We all pile into the elevator and make our way down.

The chariot room is full of chatter and stylists rushing around putting the finishing touches on their tributes. We quietly stand next to our ginormous chariot. Every chariot is designed to match their district, even the horses match. The horses for District One are pure white, while ours are as black as coal. I turn around to see Onyx running up to us. "Hey guys! Glad I caught up to you! Just wanted to give you advise on the parade. It might be really scary at first, seeing all those people looking at you.." " Wait, how many people are out there?" I ask. " About 100,000 people". Swallowing hard I nod trying to hide my nervousness. " Now, it will be scary to see all those people out there, screaming your name, but you cant just stand there like a deer in headlights. Be friendly, smile, wave, blow kisses, things like that, ya know? Gets people on your side". We both nod and climb onto the chariot. "Hey..." I say to Orion " Yeah, what's up?" He asks. Taking a deep breath " Are you nervous?". Slightly shaking his head " Not really, you?". " Uhhh, no! Just wondering...". He might have believed me, if my voice hadn't cracked near the end. He throws me a sideways smile " Everything will be fine, trust me". Suddenly the enormous doors open. The once muffled chatter of the Capitol citizens turns into deafening cheering. The chariots leave one by one, District One...District Two...District Three...a single drop of sweat runs down my neck...District Six...District Seven...District Eight. Somehow with all the screaming and the blaring music I hear my name. Turning around I see Charon , Lysithia and Onyx waving. Giving me a thumbs up he mouths " You got this". District Ten...District Eleven...Its show time.

Everything all at once puts me in shock, the blaring music, the bright lights, the citizens screaming our names. Once we come out, the girls screams get louder, and the guys whistle and whoop "It must be these costumes. What are Mother and Father thinking right now? If I ever tried to wear something like this back home, they would kill me!". The simple thought causes me to smile, then giggle. Suddenly, the fear is gone. Looking up to the crowd I blow a kiss, which makes the crowd go wild! Its like I'm in another world, a strange bizarre world, with strange bizarre people...all screaming my name. They throw flowers and gifts into the runway. A man on my left throws a red rose. I catch it and put it in my teeth with a wink. Soon enough the chariots come to a halt in front of the podium. I take out rose from my mouth and hold it in my hand. All the citizens suddenly fall silent. Somehow standing proudly at the podium, is the one and only, the man of my nightmares , President Snow.

A young man, only 25, President Cornelius Snow took over for his father as president three years ago. Although very handsome, he is the reason we are all here,and that by next week 23 of us will be dead, I will be dead. He clears his throat and speaks into the microphone "Tributes! We welcome you! We thank you, for your courage, and brave sacrifice for our country. To celebrate 25 years of The Hunger Games, it was decided the children of the districts would choose their tributes, to give each District an advantage, and I can honestly say, they did an amazing job!" The crowd screams and clapping as I roll my eyes. He says a couple more "Words of wisdom" and ends it with " May the odds be ever in your favor!". The crowd goes wild for a last time, then its over.

We hop off the chariot as Charion, our stylists and Onyx excitedly run up. " You guys were fabulous! Odette you did excellent getting the crowd going!" Charon exclaims. "He's absolutely right, for a split second you looked scared, but you broke through it, and I'm proud of you!" Onyx says with a big smile. "Now!" Charon says and claps his hands "Who's hungry?".

We all get out of the elevator into our luxurious room. Since we are District 12 we get the penthouse at the very top. " Why don't you two change, and join us for dinner?" we nod and make our way to our rooms. After changing out of our costumes, we make our way to the table. " Ah there you two are! Grab a plate and eat up!" Charon says gesturing to the table piled high with food. Well, he doesn't have to tell me twice! As I shovel food into my mouth, Onyx sits up and speaks " Starting tomorrow for the next five days, you will go and train with the rest of the tributes". He must of noticed that as he said that I swallowed hard, its just that, the thought of seeing them in person, seeing them laugh at me at my face, scares me. "Now this is no reason to be scared, they cant and wont lay a finger on you in the training center, that's a promise" he says with a serious look. " No...but they can laugh" I say holding back tears. The atmosphere suddenly turns somber. " Just remember what I told you, you need to be deaf, pay no attention to them". I nod and push my plate away "I'm done" I say as I get up and head to my room for the night.

**I'm sorry this chapter not only took a while but is short! now that we are really getting into the story it will get a lot more interesting!**

**To make up for the short chapter, ill tell you a story:**

**I actually thought of the idea for this story while I was in math class. Don't ask me what we were learning because I wouldn't understand it anyway ( I'm TERRIBLE at math! Always was, always will be) I was zoning out and thinking of other things and I started thinking about the hunger games. Im a person who usually remembers even the smallest detail from books, and I remembered when Katniss said they had two victors, but only Haymitch is still alive. Realizing Susan Collins never gave anymore details on the other victor, I started getting ideas! And whala! This story is born!**

**If you got this far into the story I love you! If you like the story please favorite, follow and review! Give me criticism! I wanna know what you like, or don't like!**

**Untill next time!  
**

** ~Maddy**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Its dead silent as Orion and I descend underground to the training center. Taking deep breaths , I try to calm my nerves and stop shaking. Orion notices and puts his hand on my shoulder, because I'm not paying attention, it makes me jump. "Hey, easy." he says as he squeezes my shoulder " Everything will be fine, I promise. Just remember..." he removes his hand from my shoulder and plugs his ears with his fingers. Giggling I nod my head. Suddenly a thought hits me, getting too close to him could be dangerous, what if this is his plan? or is he just being truly nice? Does he just feel bad for me? I don't have anymore time to think about it, because the elevator doors open, revealing the room full of my enemies.

" In a few weeks, 23 of you will be dead, one of you will be alive..." A woman talks to all of us, but I don't hear a thing. Everyone looks a lot more threatening up close, especially the district 11 boy, Talc. He angrily whispers to himself, like he did at the reaping. The woman ends her monologue, and everyone walks away. Talc hits himself in the head twice before walking away. Taking a deep breath, I mentally run though what I should focus on the most and realize, I have no skills whatsoever, in any category. " Well I guess I should start with the most basic survival skills, like starting a fire, or identifying helpful plants" I think to myself. I make my way over to fire starter training. One of the trainers, a young Asian man greets me, and we get started. Turns out, I'm great at starting fires! With a stick some rope and bark, I can get a fire two minutes flat! Even the trainer is impressed. Ten feet next to me is another tribute trying to start a fire " Dammit!" She says as she throws the sticks down and crosses her arms " This is harder than I thought!". She's around seventeen, probably 5'3 with dirty blond hair and piercing blue eyes. Crawling over to her i ask " Do you need help?". Her eyes widen " You would do that?" she asks somewhat shocked. " Sure, its pretty easy actually" I say and work with her for the next ten minutes until she gets it " Wow thanks a bunch! Hey, You're Odette aren't you? From District Twelve?". Sighing I nod " Yeah, that's me. You're from District Four right? What's your name?". She nods and then scrunches up her face in disgust " I kinda hate my name" "Come on tell me!" I press. She sighs " Alright, but don't laugh, Its Calypso, but call me Cali. Anyway, I owe you one". " For what?" I ask. " For teaching he how to make fire! You could have just saved my life here! So, what do you need help on?" she asks. Thinking, I say " I'm not very good with identifying good or bad plants". " That's easy, follow me!". We get to the plant identifying area and get to work.

After an hour, I'm an expert on helpful and poisonous plants and berries, I also realize, she's really nice person. It might sound crazy, considering we are in the Hunger Games, but if we weren't, we would probably be best friends." You know, you're pretty cool girl Odette!" Cali says with a smile. " Thanks! You are too!" I say. Then I avert my eyes, and let my head droop. " Hey, what's the matter?" she asks. " Well, it's just kinds ironic. Back home I have no friends, now I come close to having one, and look where we are" I say as I shrug. " Yeah, this really sucks, but why don't you have any friends?" she asks. We decide to discuss it over something we both need help on, tree climbing. I tell her the details of my family life and how people tend to stay away from me while climbing through the branches of an actual tree growing in the training center. She listens very intently and only interrupts a couple of times to throw in things like " Oh my god!" or " That bitch!" or " That sucks ass". After an hour of tree climbing, we decide to give making traps a try. While we make traps, she tells me about her life. Her dad is a captain of boat and her mom fishes, they live right on the beach. Although shes one of the best fighters, she doesn't have many friends either. Twenty minutes later, I have three dinky rabbit traps, while she has five huge traps to catch people. " Wow , you're really good at making traps!" I exclaim. " Well, when I was eight, my parents started teaching me about fishing, nets, hooks and tridents". " You can throw tridents?!" "Yeah...you wanna see?" she asks. I nod my head excitedly.

We walk over to the weapon rack and she picks the biggest trident there. She stands about 20 feet away from a dummy, she takes a moment position herself, then she lets it fly! The trident lands perfectly in the dummy's chest. Deimos, Pearl , Helix and Aeila stand ten feet away, all looking very impressed. " Hey I think you made an impact on them" I say and nod my head in their direction. " Ehh, I don't care about them. Technically I'm a career, but its such bullshit". " Hey at least they like you..." I say and hang my head. " Hey, don't be so bummed, they're a bad group anyway, you know? Its best not to get rapped up in the careers". Suddenly, there is commotion on the other side of the training center. Talc and another male tribute are shouting at one another. Talc's face turns red and twists with anger, it's almost too terrifying to watch. Talc then head-butts him, immediately knocking him unconscious. For some reason he is still shouting nonsense, he then proceeds him hit himself in the head a coupl times just before peacekeepers come and take him away. " Hey, is something wrong with him? He just acts really weird Sometimes" .Cali's face turns serious as she motions for me to come closer " They say he hears things...voices...inside his head. He also see things that aren't really there, hallucinations. He sees and hears them all he time, he never got the right medication for them, so they got really bad". The hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. " Hey, I'm just gonna throw this triton around for the remainder of today, so ill see you around". " yeah see ya" I say and walk away. "I should probably start learning a weapon, but which one? it can't be too big or heavy, maybe knives?" My thought is cut short, by a very familiar voice calling my name.

"Onyx!" I say excitedly and run up to him "What are you doing here?!". "Before I was your mentor I worked here as a trainer, I still do". "That's so awesome!". "So, need help with anything?" He asks. Sighing I say "well, I'm not really sure what weapon would be right for me...I don't have any muscles...". " Well you don't need muscles for every weapon, follow me"

" You need something light, something like..." ." Like knives?" I ask. " No, Pearl is very skilled with knives. You need something different, something unique, something like...this!" he says as he pulls a long thin tube off a rack and hands it to me. " Uhhh..." I say and give him a baffled look. He chuckles and says " It's a Blowgun. You put the dart in this end, blow into it, and it hits the other person and the poison kills them. The great thing about them is, the dart can land anywhere in the body and it's still deadly. Wanna give it a try?". I nod my head and he hands me three darts. Onyx shows me how to stand to have the best aim " Now remember, you probably aren't going to have this much time to get into position in the games, especially if you are being charged, just keep that in mind". Taking a deep breath, I blow as hard as I can into the blowgun. The dart sticks, but misses the dummy. " That's great Odette!" he exclaims. " How? I completely missed the dummy!" I say. " Yes you did, but you have enough air strength to shoot it that far, and that's a great start! Here, try again" he says. I put in the second dart, shoot it again and miss again. About twenty feet away, I notice the careers, scoffing and sneering with smirks on their faces. The sudden feeling of rage washes over me " Come on Odette, let's go..." he says and tries to lead me away. " No!" I say pushing his arm off me. Putting the last dart into the blowgun, I take position, take a deep breath and shoot it. The dart flies out, and lands right between the dummies eyes.

Deimos and Helix look at each other, then back at me, looking somewhat impressed. They nod and move away. Aelia and Pearl however squint their eyes, looking slightly envious. They then too walk away. Grinning from ear to ear I turn to Onyx. Thinking he would be happy for me too, I'm surprised to see him crossing his arms with a frown. " What's wrong, wasn't that good?" I ask. " Yes, it was perfect, but it's not good to show your strengths in front of them, now they know what to expect in the games and now that they know your good at this they will know to get armor to protect them from it". " I-Im sorry. I didn't realize... I just wanted to show them..." I say drifting off. He sighs and smiles " Hey, its alright. Just remember that in the future. Now, lets see if you can do that again" he says and hands me more darts.

After three hours of blowgun practice, I rarely miss the dummy. Before we know it, the day is over. We discuss the events of today at the dinner table. " So, how did training go today you two?" Charon asks. " Well, today I just focused on outdoor survival stuff, but tomorrow I'm working on weapons" Orion says. " Mhm, that's smart Orion! What about you Odette? How did you spend your day?". "Well, I worked on survival stuff as well, like making fires, climbing trees and identifying plants. Then I worked with Onyx a little". Orion suddenly chuckles " oh that's not all that happened, District Eleven boy had a breakdown and knocked another tribute out cold. Odette over here also made a new friend" Orion says with a sideways grin. " Oh really? Why don't you tell us about it Odette, was it a career? Are you guys allies?" Charon asks. " Well, it was Calypso, she's from District Four, so technically she's a career...but she wants nothing to do with them. I helped her make a fire and she helped me with good and bad plants, and we just got along really well, but we aren't allies. She wouldn't want to be allies with me..." I say. " Well with the way you were those shooting darts near the end I'd be allies with you" Onyx says. " Oh! Your weapon is a blowgun, that's great! Its different too! It's important to be unique, good for you!" Charon says proudly. " What's your weapon of choice Orion?" Charon asks. "Well, back home, I worked in the mines a bit, so I got pretty good with a pickaxe. I figured if I'm good at it, I'll use it". I get goose bumps thinking about Orion driving a pickaxe through someone's skull. " I thought your parents were doctors?" I ask. He should have all the money he needs, there are many sick people in District Twelve. " Well, we still need money for supplies...not everyone can afford us..." he says and drifts off. " Well" Onyx says to break the tension " How about that fight, between Talc and the other tribute". " Yeah that was crazy! What's wrong with him anyway?" Orion asks. Swallowing hard, I contemplate if telling them would be ok. " Well..." I say reluctantly. " Yes Odette, what is it?" Charon asks. Sighing I tell them " Calypso told me he hears voices...in his head, and he sees things too". Orion's eyes widen " Schizophrenia..." he whispers. " What's that?" Charon asks as he leans in. Orion sighs heavily " If he's having auditory and visual hallucination its most likely schizophrenia". " Well, he sounds like someone to avoid in the games" says Charon. Nodding, I push my plate away " I'm not hungry anymore" I say and go back to my room.

Its a very sleepless night.

**Alright! I hope this makes up for all the short chapters!**

**I actually have a favor to ask you guys reading my story. I have a friend, Kornerbrandon. He wants to write a SYOT, but there are still five male slots open AT THE MOMENT, for districts 10, 9 and 6. If you are interested PLEASE submit a tribute. I have already submitted a few as well( I even submitted Talc as one. I think he is an extremely interesting character and...well... I have already determined his fate, and I think it would be interesting to see how someone else handles him) If you are interested just look him up and submit a tribute! **

**I'm very grateful for the reviews! If you like my story, keep em coming! Tell me what you like, or don't like! If you like it, favorite, follow and review!**

**Until next time!**

**~Maddy**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter** 6**

Walking into the training center on the second day isn't near as nerve racking as it was yesterday. Orion and I immediately break off and head separate ways. Thinking about our relationship again, I suddenly stop dead in my tracks. Ten feet away is the District Eleven girl, Marcella, holding a seven foot scythe, _**a scythe.** _She takes a deep breath in, then out, then charges the dummy and cuts its head clean off. Standing it up aside her she turns and meets my eyes. Her menacing gaze makes my blood go cold. Swallowing hard, I turn on my heels and speed walk the hell out of there. Now on the other side of the training center, I can breath easy again. " I should find Onyx, he said I should try hitting a moving target today" I think as I look around trying to find him. Suddenly I hear my name being called by a familiar voice, but its not Onyx.

" Cali!" I say as she jogs up to my side. " Hey, did you see Grim Reaper over there? That's crazy!" she says slightly breathless. " Yeah, shes pretty threatening..." I say. " So, what are you up to today?" she asks. " Im going to focus on weapon training today" I say. " Cool, me too! Whats your weapon?". " Well, after we broke off yesterday, I found my mentor, Onyx, and he introduced me to blowguns". I then told her what it is and how it works, also how I stood up to the careers " That's so awesome! Can I watch, just for a bit?" she asks. Taking a deep breath, I wonder if its a good idea. We're not even allies, is it a good idea to trust her? "Okay, you watch, just for a bit though, and make sure you keep a distance. I don't think Onyx would be happy having someone watch me...". She perks up and smile " Okay, cool!".

Onyx is leaning up against the wall looking bored, he seems to be waiting for me. " Hey" I say walking up to him. He turns to me and smiles " Odette! Hello!". He hands me a blowgun and some darts and motions over toward the moving dummies " So...ready to give it a shot?" he asks. Nodding confidently I take the weapon and stand on the line. I turn slightly toward Cali casual standing thirty feet away. She gives me a thumbs up and I turn toward the dummy. " Lets see if you remember anything from yesterday. Ill let you take two shots having the dummy stand still, then you'll try having it move". I nod again, quickly get into position, and shoot the first dart. It lands right in the middle of his chest. " That's good! But if you are being charged, it wont stop them dead in their tracks. Try hitting either the neck, head or over the heart". he says. Getting back into position I breath in, then out, and shoot it again. This time it lands in the middle of the dummy's neck. " Awesome! Alright, time to get things moving!" he says and moves toward a control box with levers and buttons. " Odette are you ready?" " Yes " I say confidently. The dummy jerks forward, then slowly turns right and moves slowly " Now, you are walking and see a tribute, but he doesn't see you, take him out before he notices you" he says. Getting into position, I shoot the dart, and instead of hitting the dummy it whizzes past his face. " Uh Oh, he noticed you!". The dummy turns toward me and moves faster than I was expecting " EEK!" I squeal as it charges and stops right in front of me. The careers, who must have been watching from afar, laugh uncontrollably and mimic my squeal. " HEY! Get lost!" Cali goes up and shoves Deimos. They look at her, then at me. Before they walk away they sneer one last time. Cali looks at me, smiles and gives me a thumbs up before she too walks away.

After two hours, I can hit the the dummy while it moves slowly and when its charging me. He even made the dummy move in zigzags, I'm not the best at that, but its good practice anyway. " Hey, your doing great with the blowgun, but I also wanna introduce you to these" he says and hands me these oddly shapes knives " What kind of knives are these?" I asks bewildered. " They are shurikens, they originated in japan. I want to see how good you are with these" he says. " But... but i thought i was doing good with the blowgun". " You are! You are doing fantastic! But its good to have a secondary weapon, in case they either don't have a blowgun in the games or you cant get to it". Agreeing I say " That's a good idea, how do I throw them?". for about twenty minutes he demonstrates different ways to throw them, then hands them to me " Here, give it a try. You already have lots of practice with aim, you just need to learn how to throw it". Stepping toward the dummy, I throw the shuriken, and miss. Huffing, I try again...and miss again. After 10 minutes of throwing and missing I finally hurl them to the ground " I'm sorry Onyx...I...I cant do it". " Odette..." he says with a look of slight disappointment " No , Onyx look, it was a good idea, but I cant do it. I'm sorry". I turn to walk away, and run straight into Pearl. " Watch where your going!" she says angrily and shoves me "So, the baby's going to give up and cry? Doesn't matter, we're still going to kill you. All the help in the world couldn't save you" Helix says getting up in my face. " **HEY!**" Onyx voice booms, all the careers, including me, jump. He rushes up and gets in between us " Get out of here, all of you!". They all just stand there with wide eyes " **NOW! **" He screams. They all walk away, except Aelia " Just remember" she says and nods toward Onyx " He cant save you in the arena...".

Getting into position, Cali catapults the trident. It lands in the center of the chest, for the tenth time. " Whoo! Alright, now to move on to..." She stops in mid thought as she sees the four careers moving toward her. She sighs and puts her hands on her hips " Well look what the cat dragged in" she says . " Can it, Calypso!" Pearl says with attitude, she lingers on the word Calypso. Rolling her eyes and crossing her arms " What do you guys want" Cali says impatiently. Pearl begins to open her mouth, but Deimos puts his hand on her shoulder and steps forward " Look, I know we don't always get along..." " REALLY?" Cali says and draws out the word. All of a sudden, she understands " Ha! Oh I get it! You guys want me as an alli!". They stand there silently, which tells her she is correct. " Well sorry to disappoint, but I have better things to do like getting home to my family" she says and turns to walk away " Well that's going to be impossible if you have Odette for an alli". She stops abruptly and turns around " What?". " You heard us, we know you want her as an alli and honestly, you need to reconsider if you want a chance to see your family again" Deimos says. " Its non of your business who I want to be allies with!" Cali says angrily. " Oh come on! Its obvious you only feel bad for her! She cant do anything without crying!" Aelia says as the rest of them laugh, except Deimos " Look, if we team up, we can easily outnumber her and take her out!" Deimos says seriously. " Whats wrong, are you scared?" asks Pearl. " No, but you saw her with the blowgun, and what if she teams up with Orion?" he says. " Guys, look! Nothing you say can change my mind!" Cali says and walks away " You might want to go check on your crybaby!" Helix says. Cali once again stops dead in her tracks and turns around " Why?" she asks with a concerned look. " Well lets just say we had a talk with her, she ran crying with whats his face over that way" Helix says pointing behind him. Rage suddenly washes over Cali, "You guys are monsters" she says and dashes to the other end of the training center. The careers all turn toward another " Well so much for that..." Aelia says. " Well.." says Deimos " If shes not an alli...then shes an enemy".

I barrel down a hall only meant for staff and come to a dead end " Get me out of here! Get me out I want to leave!" I scream as i pound on the wall " I...want...to...leave!" With one more pound to the wall, I collapse in a heap on the ground. Footsteps are coming closer " Odette!" I hear multiply people calling my name. Onyx and Cali run up and kneel beside me. "Cali what are you doing here?" I asks. " It doesn't matter...are you OK?" she asks. I answer her by crying. She pulls me into a tight hug. " Excuse me, who are you?" Onyx asks Cali. " Oh, I'm Calypso!". " Well I think it would be best if you leave, I can take it from here" he says seriously. " But..." she tries to protest " Please, leave!" he says almost raising his voice. " Ill see you later" she whispers to me and walks away. " Onyx why did you make her go?" I say through me sobbing. " Because you need to start thinking for yourself, you cant be getting close to people now! This isn't the time to be making friends! This is a game of kill or be killed!". He sighs and hugs me " I'm sorry, but you need to trust me, if you get too close, you'll both be heart broken in the end ". Finally calming down enough to talk I say " I want to give it another try, I shouldn't be wasting time crying". He looks slightly surprised " They were right, you cant protect me in the arena, I need to learn to protect myself!" I say confidently. He gives me a big grin and slaps me on the back " Alright, lets get to it then!"

After an hour and lots of patience ( on my part) I can finally hit the target with a single shuriken. " That was great Odette! Now, lets try it with more than one". Onyx says. " More than one? How does that work?". He shows me how to throw multiple shurikens at a time and then hands them to me. Lets just say, it doesn't go well, at all. " UggHH!" I say, starting to get frustrated again. " Don't get frustrated, you will get it, I know it!". Suddenly the bell goes off, signaling the end of the second day. " How, tomorrow im working on strength and agility! Then on the last day im going review everything!". " You will trust me!" he says. Swallowing hard I say " Hey Onyx, for the interview, can Orion and I be prepped separately?". He sighs " Of course, I completely understand" he says right before Orion walks up to us " Hey guys! Whatcha talking about?" He asks. " nothing" we both say simotameously.

Dinner is uneventful, afterward we all go to our rooms for the night. I sit on my window ledge, softly singing a song I remember from my childhood.

_Every night, when the sun goes in_

_Every night, when he sun goes in_

_Every night, when the sun goes in_

_I hang down my head, and mournful cry._

_I wish to The Lord, that train would come_

_I wish to The Lord, that train would come_

_I wish to The Lord, that train would come_

_And take me back, where I come from._

In her own room, sitting on her bed curled up in a ball, Pearl softly sings her own lullaby...

_I'm__ coming home, I'm coming home_

_Tell the world i'm coming home_

_Let the rain wash away_

_All the pain of yesterday_

_I know my kingdom awaits_

_And they've __forgiven my mistakes _

_I'm coming home, I'm coming home_

_ Tell the world I'm coming..._

**Whoo! another long chapter! Just saying, from here on shit will get CRAZZZZZZY!**

**But unfortunately I have some bad news. For the first two weeks in august, I wont be able to post anything. I'm going to be SUUPPEERR busy! but I will try to write a little.**

**If you enjoy the story PLEASE review, favorite and follow! Give me a review of why you like it, or what I should change! I want your criticism!**

**The two songs are " Every night when the sun goes in" and " I'm coming home"**

**Until**** next time!**

** ~Maddy**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

For the third day, I decided to work on my strength and agility. As I stand and wait in the line for the high monkey bars, Cali runs up to me " Hey girl! Giving the monkey bars a shot huh?" she says slightly breathless. I nod and look down at the ground " I'm sorry about yesterday. Onyx ...he just...". " Hey, don't sweat it, I understand why he did that. But, uh, hey I wanted to ask you something... do you want to b-" " Hey look over there!" I say cutting off her sentence. Walking though the doors of the training center are Talc and Marcella casually talking. Marcella says something and Talc chuckles. The reason I'm so shocked is because...he looks so normal! He's not whispering or hitting himself and he looks calm, handsome even. " Yeah, they say now and then the hallucinations stop, and when they do he acts normal...even cries about his brothers and sisters" Cali says. Giving her a baffled look I ask" Why? What happened to them?". She motions for me to come close and whispers in my ear "When he was twelve he strangled them to death. When hes hallucinating, he doesn't show any sign of remorse". The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I realize why he was chosen for the games, he's a natural-born killer. Cali says" Anyway, back to my question, do you want t-". "Oh hey, it's my turn, I'll talk to you later ok?". She sighs and says " yeah, talk to you later, do great!" She says and gets in the back of he line.

Taking a deep breath, I look down at the trainer holding the timer. He nods and says "whenever you're ready". The monkey bars must be at least twelve feet off the ground. Taking one more deep breath, I go for it. "This actually isn't so hard!" I think to myself. Halfway across the monkey bars, my left hand slips "Ahh!". I scream as stomach drops. I quickly bring my hand back up. "It ok! Your doing great!" The trainer calls out to me. My heart pounds like a drum in my ears And my body shakes. " Come on you can do it!" The trainer calls out enthusiastically. Taking a deep breath to calm myself down, I continue until I reach the end, where I fall to my knees. "Alright! 21 second, that's a new record!" The trainer calls out. Peal, who is next in line huffs " not for long!" She yells And begins climbing. Halfway through, exactly where I faltered, she slips and Falls, landing flat on her back. She chokes and gasps, struggling to get air. Trainers rush over and everyone goes silent, waiting to see what happens. after a couple of minutes she slowly rise to her feet and is led somewhere to sit. She avoids my gaze for the most part, but for a split second shoots me a look mixed with envy and anger. I should feel proud, but I don't.

I spend the rest of the day lifting weights and doing cardio. After we eat dinner I get up to go to my room when Onyx grabs my arm and leans close "Odette, meet me out here at 12:00" he whispers. Before I can question him, he turns around and goes back to his room. I wait until 12, and go to he main living area where Onyx is standing. "Follow me" he says and leads me to the elevator.

" What are we doing here?" I asks as we step into the dark training center. He turns on half of he lights and says " you'll see". He grabs five sets of three shurikens and hands one to me " You at going to be able to throw three of these by the end of the night" He says. Looking at him I ask " are we allowed to do this?". "Damn, you ask a lot of questions!". He gives me a slap on the back " Haha I'm kidding! Don't worry about it! Just remember how I told you to do it, and don't forget to breath!".

After ten minutes, I'm ready to give up. "Look, maybe just I'm not cut out for this. I can already throw one, isnt that good enough?". Onyx gives me a serious face " Good enough? Odette, you can never put boundaries on what you do, physiologically or physically". He sighs heavily " Odette, remember what I told you to do that night on the train?". I say " yeah, you told me to be deaf". " Good, good! Now, I need you to do the opposite". Taken aback, I say " The opposite?". "Yes, remember all the hurtful things they said about you, right now. Let all your emotions pour out". Nodding I softly sob, letting the hot tears flow down my face, remembering everything. " Alright, you're crying, so that means your sad, but there must be another emotion boiling up inside you right?" " Yes" I say breaking from my sobbing. " Now, how angry are you?" he asks. " Really angry" I say. " You don't sound it! Now tell me, how angry are you!?" he says raising his voice. " I'm angry!". " No you're not! HOW ANGRY ARE YOU!?". " I'M ANGRY!" I scream. " There! That's rage! Nostrils flaring, body's shaking!". I have to admit, I am pretty worked up. " Now, instead of remembering and feeling sad, feel angry, get angry!". Turning toward the dummy I place the shurikens in my hand " Imagine the person you hate most, the person you want dead. That person is that dummy". I nod once, get into position and throw all three of them, but only one lands. Onyx hands me another set " Come on, get angry! That's the person you hate! The careers are laughing at you now! Everybody is laughing! They say you can't do it! How do you feel about that!?". Heavily shaking I say through my clenched teeth " I'm. Angry.". The second set of shurikens miss too, Onyx raises his voice " Odette the careers are laughing at you! THE COUNTRY is laughing at you, remember!? REMEMBER?!" "YES!" I scream back and throw the third set, and miss. " That's the person you hate the most! That person has hurt you! NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO BACK?!". " _I'm going to kill him"_ I say in my head and with a scream I launch the fourth set of shurikens, and they all hit the dummy. Breathing a heavy sigh I smile, because...

_I just killed President Snow._

Feeling faint, I lean against the wall and slide to the ground. Visibly shaking, I try to focus on my breathing. Onyx leans down next to me and wipes tears that I didn't even realize were there. " There it is, that raw passion I knew was inside you all along. Now that this fire inside of you is lit, you need to keep it burning, through out the entire game. The minute you give up, the fire will go out. In a couple of days, you are going to have to go on stage in front of the whole country. From this point on, instead of ignoring what people say, you need to take it and use it to fuel the fire inside you, _prove them all wrong._ He pulls me back up and hands me another set with a smile " Now, lets see if you can do it again".

After an hour, not only can I throw three shurikens simultaneously, but I can hit three targets at the same time. With this new feeling of inner strength, I have this sudden burst of energy. I jump up and down excitedly as I hit three dummies at the same time...again. " Haha alright! I think you're good! Why don't we head back up?" he says and pats me on the back as we make our way to the elevator. As we ascend to the penthouse he says " Hey Odette, do me a favor ok? Keep this quiet from everybody, alright?" I nod, understanding, but not truly realizing the danger he could be in if someone found out about this. We reach the penthouse and quietly part ways to our bedrooms. I plop on my bed and get under the covers, but sleep does not come.

I spent the last day in the training center reviewing everything I already learned, so its pretty uneventful, until Cali asks me a question. We are reviewing how to start a fire when she suddenly stops and says with a shaky voice. " H-hey Odette..." She rubs the back of her neck, as if she's wondering if she should go through with her question, but finally she takes a deep breath and spits it out " ...Do you wanna be allies?". Though I'm taken aback, a smile spreads across my face as I answer " Yeah, I do". Hearing my answer, she smiles too.

We discuss the scoring at the dinner table " Now," Onyx starts " Tomorrow they are going to score you based on what you do and how well you do it". " Alright, so we just give it all get got, that should be easy" Orion says with a mouth full of food. " Well, its up to you. You can do that and get a high score, or pretend to be not as good". " But why would someone do that?" Orion asks. " Well, you can do that to get a lower score, so people think "oh they are weak I don't have to worry about them" and then surprise them in the arena!". At that point I realize, that is what I want to do.

All of the tributes sit side by side as one by one they go into the training center. They are allowed up to ten minutes each. After about an hour, its just me and Orion. I must be visibly shaking, because Orion places his hand on my knee " Hey, you are going to do great in there". I chuckle and say " Well... no i'm not" I say and wink. " He smiles and says " Well, good luck with doing bad then!". Suddenly the robotic voice calls my name, I'm next. My eyes go wide and my body goes stiff. " Good luck" Orion says and lightly squeezes my knee before I get up. I walk to the door and look back to see Orion giving me a thumbs up. I nod turn around, and walk into the training center only to stop dead as I see who is sitting up there along with the Game makers, _President Snow_. Its then I realize, I have to give it all I got._  
_

He smiles, but he has a serious look to his face, as if his smile is forced, painted on. " Hello my dear! You're Odette correct?" The head Gamemaker asks. I nod nervously " Alright dear you may start, good luck!". Swallowing hard I wonder where to start. I should just start from the beginning. I go over to the fire starting area and picked up the sticks and rope. After a minute and a half, I have a fire started. The gamemakers seem slightly impressed, while President Snow sits with a straight face. " Dear you have eight minutes left". the gamemaker says. Next I head to the high monkey bars, and beat my previous record. Taking a deep breath I head over to the weapons and grab the blowgun. I stand on the line, and wait for the dummy to move. The dummy jerks forward and come at me faster than Onyx ever made it. I raise the blowgun to my face and shoot three darts. Two land in the neck and one over the heart. ignoring the gamemakers I reach for the shurikens. " Five minutes!". There are eight dummies scattered about and when one lights up, I need to hit that one. Exhaling I hit the first one that lights up, and I hit the first five. Suddenly three of them light up at the same time, and I know what I have to do. I hold the last three shurikens in my right hand, and let them fly. They all hit dead center in the chest on all three dummies. The gamemakers all clap, and for the first time, President Snows face changes, he narrows his eyes and rubs his mouth as if deep in thought. " Alright dear you may leave!" the gamemakers says. I nod and turn to walk toward the elevator. I step in the elevator and just as the doors start to close, I get one more glimpse of President Snow. We lock eyes, and just before they shut, he gives me a malicious grin.

The elevator door opens to the penthouse. Onyx, Charon and Lysithia sit in the living room, they immediately sit up as I walk into the room " So, how'd it go?" Charon asks. I speed walk straight past them into my room.

Hours later there is a knock at the door " Odette, they are announcing the scores". Getting changed I walk out into the living room and sit right in between Orion and Onyx. The Claudius show starts and he begins to say the tributes scores. " Deimos, nine. Pearl, eight. Helix,eight. Aelia, seven". I begin to shake, the sweat runs down my neck. " Calypso, eight". " Getting nervous? Don't worry, I'm sure you did terrible!" Orion says to make me laugh. " Talc, ten.". "Damn, that's the highest one so far!" Onyx says. " Marcella, nine". " Alright, here we go..." Orion says. " Orion, eight". He exhales, relieved. " Now, last but not least, Odette!". He picks up the envelope and opens it. I shut my eyes, not sure of what gamemakers actually thought of me, of what President Snow thought of me. Nobody here knows that I backed out of pretending to act terrible. " Now, Odettes score is... a ten!". " Oh my!" exclaims Charon. Everybody gasps in shock. " Well so much for doing bad!" Orion says " What happened to acting bad?". " Well, I was going to act bad but, I didn't know President Snow would be there and I got nervous...". " What are you talking about, he wasn't there for me" Orion says. " Yeah, hes not supposed to be there..." Onyx says. For some reason, I'm still shaking " So, what does that mean? That I did really well. Is that good or bad?". " Well, I don't know, why don't you get to bed" Onyx says. that sounds pretty good, so without saying anything else, I get up and go to my room.

After Orion is in his room Onyx, Lysithia and Charon sit in grievous silence. Finally Charon speaks up " Are you surprised?" he asks. Onyx shakes his head " No, not at all. He wanted to see her for himself, but he wasn't being generous when he gave her that score...". " No..." Charon says shaking his head.

" Hes putting a big target on her back" Lysithia says.

Yayyy another long chapter! I wanted to write a long one because I wont be able to publish anything for at least two weeks, then its back to school! :(

This chapter was kinda boring im sorry :((( But things will get very interesting form here...And whats up with President Snow and Odette?! ( You'll have to wait and see :) the truth shall be revealed very soon...)

Once again, If you like the story please review, favorite and follow! Give me criticism!

Until next time! Hopeful it wont be too long!

~Maddy


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 (The Truth will be revealed!)**

Tonight is the tribute interviews. We have the day to prepare for them. I requested that Orion and I are trained separately, so for the first half of the day Onyx will work with me, then work with Orion. Right after breakfast we get to work. " So," Onyx says " You should go out there with an angle". " A what?" I asks confused. " You know, an angle, how you want to be remembered. You can go out there and make everybody laugh, or act tough, or act innocent. We just need to find out whats right for you". Thinking, I realize, I don't know whats right for me. I only make people laugh when I don't try or want to, I cant act tough, but with my training score, how will I act weak? Then it hits me like a brick wall, I know what my angle will be " The underdog" I say under my breath. The words seem to spill out before I have a chance to control it. " Hmm? What was that?" Onyx asks. Taking a deep breath and look him straight in the eyes "...The Underdog".

After a couple of hours preparing what I will say and answering potential questions, he hands me over to Lysithia who gets me dressed for the interview. As shes doing my makeup, a thought comes back to me " Oh! I totally forgot! You went to go find out if you were pregnant a couple days a go! So...?" I ask with a big smile. She frowns and shakes her head, and I understand. " Oh...I'm sorry...". " Don't be. I guess its just not meant to be" she says and I can see shes holding back tears. " You cant give up! You cant give up on the things you really want! If you want it bad enough, you'll get it" I tell her. She finally smiles and quietly says " Thank you, Odette. Just make sure to listen to your own advice in the arena. Alright, you're done!". I turn around, and gasp. She used very simple makeup, a wing with black eyeliner, red false eyelashes and red lips. My blonde hair is braided in an up-do, but the best part is the dress. A short silky red one shoulder dress With black high heels. The ruffles on the dress very closely resemble flames( This and Cali's outfit are on my Polyvore. I think I gave out the wrong info before so my Polyvore account name is just Phoenixrider without the 66) " Its...its beautiful...I'm beautiful". " Yes, you are." Lysithia says with a smile. Checking the time she says " We should get going".

We all stand in a line to the stage. Everyone has five minutes to win the crowd over. Most of the Careers use the tough angle...except Cali. She walks out confidently in a beautiful long flowing light blue gown with wavy hair. She jokes around and makes the crowd laugh. After her interview I zone out, until Talc walks out. Once again he looks so calm and collected, but at the end as he walks out and hits himself in the head, but keeps walking. " Alright, you're up" Onyx says to me. Swallowing hard I nod. My heart booms in my ears like a drum. " Alright, next up from District Twelve, the lovely Odette!" Claudius says and the crowd cheers. I look back at Onyx one last time and he gives me a thumbs up as he mouths " You got this". Turning around I take one step on stage, Its show time.

The crowd claps and cheers as I walk out on stage. Not only are there hundreds of people here live, but millions watching around the world. I walk toward Claudius and he offers me his hand. I take it and sit across from him. " So, you're the lovely Odette! How are you?". " I-Im fine" I say quietly with a small smile. "_Damn it! why did I stutter?! It was a simple question!" _I think to myself. " That's wonderful! So, what do you think about the Capitol?". Suddenly everything Onyx and I went over evaporated from my mind. For a split second I sit there frozen in terror, then...I say the first thing that comes to mind " Well its...different". I say with wide eyes. He looks somewhat surprised "Different? In what way?". " Well, nobody has green hair back home..." I say. Then something happens, the crowd starts to laugh and so does Claudius! " That must have been different for you! So whats your favorite thing about the Capitol?". The only thing I can think of is, _nothing. _But instead I say " As strange as they look, the people. Everyone I met so far was very kind!". Claudius nods and, then changes the subject " I see. But I want to know more about something else, your training score". My heart skips a beat and I get goosebumps " So, can you tell us any details of what went down in the training center that night?" he says with a curious smile. " Well..." I say trying to find the right words "...I gave it all I got. That's pretty much it". The crowd claps and Claudius seems satisfied. "Now, our times almost up, but is there anything else you would like to tell Panem?". _This is my chance, here goes..._ I take a deep breath and nod " Yes". " And what would you like to tell the people of Panem?". " I want to tell them...that its not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. The odds are against me in every way, but I wont back down. I have nothing to loose...and everything to gain". The crowd goes wild and gives me a standing ovation. That feeling of inner strength I first felt that night in the training center, washes over me. The flame that Onyx lit, grew into a raging fire. Claudius takes my hands and helps me stand " That's exactly what I wanted to hear from you! Everybody give one last round of applause to Odette!"

" That was AMAZING!" Charon wildly exclaims. He pulls out a sparkly purple handkerchief and dabbed his eyes. Onyx walks up with a smile from ear to ear. " He's absolutely right, you could not have done better. I'm really proud of you". My knees wobble and I lean on the wall to keep from falling. " Can...can I go back to my room?" I ask suddenly feeling exhausted. " Of course, you earned an early night in". I feel somewhat bad for missing Orion's interview, but I realize its for the best. Tomorrow morning, we will enter the games. From here on, he is an enemy.

Its two in the morning, and here I sit in the fetal position on my bed wide awake. I go back through the past week and a half in my head, all the people I've met. Orion, Talc, Cali..._how will the alliance work? What if it ends up just the two of us? Then what? Nah, I'll be dead by then. No! I can't think like that! I need to keep thinking positive. Tomorrow, its do or die. _That's my last thought before I drift off to sleep.

The next morning I'm not hungry but Charon insists i'll regret not eating later, so I force what I can down. After breakfast, I say my final goodbyes to Charon. I meet Lysithia, where she puts me in my arena outfit. a red tank top,jeans and knee-high boots. she gives me a Black jacket and informs me how its water proof and will keep my body heat in. Before I leave, I give her a hug, knowing It might be the last time I see her. I remind her to not give up on her dream, we bid each other farewell , and walk to the hovercraft filled with the other tributes.

They put a tracker inside each tributes arm right before we took off. As we make our way to the arena, I get nervous. _What will the arena be like? It's the first Quarter Quell, so its going to be special, and by special, I mean terrible. _Soon enough, we land and they all lead us underground to separate rooms to say goodbye to our mentors. I sit alone for a bit while Onyx goes to Orion first. Finally, the door opens and he walks in. " Onyx!" I say and jump up to greet him, but my excitement turns to shock. His eyes are severely bloodshot and a mix or sadness and seriousness are painted on his face "Onyx...?" I say. " Odette, listen to me" he grabs my shoulders and squeezes them " There is something you need to know before you go into the games. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I had to keep you safe...I'm so sorry..." he says and shakes. " Onyx, whats wrong?" I ask very confused, not knowing what he was about to tell me would forever change me. " Odette, listen. The reason you are here is **not **because you were voted in". Baffled I say " What do you mean, of course that's why i'm here! I must have done something to make everyone hate me, so they voted for me". Hes shakes his head " No, its not what you did, its what you _didn't_ do". My mind races to try to decipher what hes saying " What I...didn't do?" I asks. It hits me, at that very moment, I realize. " No..." My eyes go wide as I shake my head in disbelief. " I'm so sorry Odette, Its true". " But...how did they know?...

_How did they know that I didn't vote?"_

" They have ways, Odette. You were not alone in that room that day. People saw you. They were going to be punished if they didn't tell. By refusing to vote, President Snow saw that as a rebellious act. Charon had no choice but to report it". As much as it makes sense, I couldn't believe it. " But...I...I didn't..."Odette, think about it. Why would President show up for your final training scores and give you a very high score? Instead of just simply killing you, he decided to do something different...". "So...everyone knew?" I ask. He nods "Charon, Lysithia, and I. Trust me Odette, it was for your safety, I couldn't just tell you right away, but I did want you to know before its too late". Tears cascade down my face " Odette, President Snow is a vile man who was done vile things. You need to-" " Win" I say, cutting him off. " _No. _You need to _resist. _That fire inside of you, was not lit by me, it was lit when you refused to vote. You need to refuse to play his game. In his book, you will die, don't just prove him wrong, make a _fool_ out of him.". His features blur from the tears, but I understand and nod. " Thirty second" a robotic voice says. He brings me into a tight embrace and I sob violently in his shoulder . He has taught me so much about myself and I don't want to do this without him. " Its ok Odette" he says. " Shhh don't cry. Dont let everyone see you cry". " Twenty seconds". Sniffling I nod and get myself under control. " Ten seconds". He lets go and I walk to the tube and stand inside. Suddenly the tube encloses me. I put my palm on the glass, staring back at Onyx as I let more tears fall. The tube begins to rise, and just in time I get one more glance at Onyx, who gives me a thumbs up _" You got this"._

**_I never saw him again. _**

WOW HOLY MOLY. haha hi everyone I know I said I was going to be busy but I have three days off to post and I couldn't resist!

SOO? WHAT Do YOU GUYS THINK? This is a very emotional and important chapter for Odette. But I want to know what you guys think! Did you see the "truth" coming? I understand if some of you caught on, because i've been hinting that something wasn't right since the beginning. But I want to hear from you guys! I know I am feeling a lot of emotions after writing a chapter like this, but how do you guys feel?

If you guys like it please review, favorite and follow! I'm going to post one more chapter before Monday, and lets just say, Panem will be changed forever.

Until next time!

~Maddy


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

History was always my favorite subject, especially ancient history. History of what Panem used to be, North America. Someone in ancient history really stuck out to me, his name was Martin Luther King Jr. We learned about his " I have a dream" speech, but another one of his speeches really branded itself in my head.

It is only now at this very moment, as I stand in the Hunger Games, that I truly understand his words.

_**I come to this magnificent house of worship tonight**_

**_because_**_** my conscience leaves me no other choice.**_

I rise up into a large open field. Lush green grass and wide open blue sky. The cornucopia sits in the middle, filled with food and weapons, but it all becomes blurry because the tears continue to stream down my face. _"Don't just prove him wrong, make a fool out of him."_

_Make a fool out of him..._

My body reacts before my mind does.

**_A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war_**

Very slowly, I lower myself and sit down on the metal plate, crossing my arms and legs, refusing to play._  
_

_**This way of settling differences is not just.**_

Gasps are heard from some of the tributes, I feel all their eyes on me. Then, something totally unexpected happens, another tribute sits down. Looking over to my right, my heart skips a beat, Orion.

**_This business of burning human beings with napalm,_**

Suddenly another tribute to my left goes down, Cali. Then another, Marcella , and another, and another...

**_of filling our nations homes with orphans and widows,_**

_** Of injecting poisonous drugs of hate,**_

_**Into the veins of peoples normally humane,**_

Soon all that's left standing are the careers and Talc, looking around very confused.

Pearl is the first career to go down.

**_of sending men home from dark and bloody battle fields..._**

All the careers are down.

**_Physically handicapped_**

Last one to go is Talc.

**_and psychologically deranged,_**

**_Cannot be reconciled with _**

**_Wisdom_**

**_Justice_**

**_and Love..._**

The countdown hits zero and the gong goes off... but not a single muscle moves.

_**Cannot be reconciled with**_

_**Wisdom**_

_**Justice**_

_**and Love...**_

There is what seems like a long, ominous pause as I imagine the Gamemakers are frantically running around, not sure how to deal with this.

_**Cannot be reconciled with**_

_**Wisdom**_

_**Justice**_

_**and Love...**_

But they soon figure out a solution

**_Cannot be reconciled with _**

**_Wisdom_**

**_Justice_**

**_and Love_**

That's when the bombs go off.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

The earth violently shakes and dirt flies at me from all directions. I bring my hands up to cover my face, but its not enough. The dry dirt makes its way into my mouth and eyes. I cough and hack while rubbing my eyes to stop the burning . After a good two minutes of this, I'm able to collect myself to access the damage and to identify what happened. I take a good look around me and realize the bombs that are positioned around the plates must have detonated.

The once grassy Field was gone, at least this one area. It is now replaced with dirt and blood. The cornucopia now lies on its side with all its contents scattered about, the force of all the bombs going off at once must have tipped it. I go to put my right hand down and feel something wet and warm, I look and to my horror discover _a severed arm. _Pushing it away, I see the boy who it belonged to, the rest of his body parts, including is head, are scattered around me. looking up I do a quick count, four people died from the bombs, one including Helix. He doesn't look dead, except for the fact that his lower body is missing. Aeila runs over to him and cradles whats left of him in her arms. I slide myself off the metal plate and try to stand up, but end up falling over. The force must have messed up my balance, as well as everybody else. The rest of the tributes are either sitting on their metal plates frozen, crying, or stumbling around in a drunkenly fashion. I try to stand again, but fall. Alarms are going off in my head _It wont be long before they come to their senses, I need to move it! _Since I'm unable to stand, I start to crawl towards the first backpack I see.

Slowly, I make my way towards the bright yellow backpack. It takes every ounce of willpower in my body to not vomit as I crawl though body parts and insides of the of the dead tributes. I'm almost at it when I pass Aeila still cradling her dead brother. We look up at each other simultaneously. Her face twists with rage as she spits out " ...YOU!". She leaps forward, but slips and falls face first in her brothers intestines. Crawling at full speed now, I quickly grab the backpack when I hear something behind me. Turning around, I see Cali with Aeila in a choke hold. "Go Odette, i'll hold her off!" Cali yells. "But...!" I begin to protest but Cali screams " Odette GO!". Jumping to my feet I sprint away from the bloodbath. I get to the edge of the field and struggle through tall grass and weeds. After a couple of minutes , I'm in another clearing. I'm standing at the top of a hill, at the bottom is where the forest starts, and just beyond that, I see what looks like a creek. I try to sprint down the hill, but my balance is not back to normal yet, so instead I tumble down to the bottom. steadily I get to my feet and run into the forest when I notice something strange. There's an opening in the trees with a worn dirt path going through the forest. As much as I want to follow it, It wouldn't be smart to be right on the trail, so I follow it ten feet to the left.

After about ten minutes of walking, the path swings to the right down a small hill. At the bottom of the hill,the trail makes another right, but I notice something else. Going left, is s very small looking trail, but you have almost have to be looking for it to notice it, so I follow the smaller trail to the left. Following it, I come up to a very small opening right beside the creek. Sitting down on the small area of dirt, I begin to relax, until a thought crosses my mind. " Why is this arena so...normal?". The temperature had to be around the low 70s, so it was pretty nice, nothing seemed extreme at all. Shrugging I figure something will happen sooner or later. The I remember the backpack, so I open it up to see whats inside. " Alright lets see. dried beef, crackers, a water container, a knife...snow shoes?" baffled, I hold them up and they are indeed for walking in the snow. " How useless, alright back to the back pack. A sleeping bag, matches, a blowgun...a blowgun!" I excitedly hold it up to the light and smile, going back into the back pack I find a case with twenty-four poison darts. As I admire the darts, I realize how thirsty I am, " Glad I'm right next to a creek". I crawl over it, but I'm immediately turned off. The creek is four feet across and easily five feet deep, but this part of the creek is very slow moving, so there is algae and it just looks plain nasty, but its all I got. I fill up the water container and take a swig. I look over the food, but after the events of today I'm not so hungry.

It gets dark pretty quickly after that. The temperate is still really nice, but I still slide in my sleeping bag to feel safe. The noises of the birds and insects are calming, but my skin still crawls. This is not the forest back home. Here, there are cameras everywhere, watching. Back home, that day of the reaping, It was just me and nature...and that man... Suddenly, the capitol anthem plays, I sit up wondering who made it and who did not. Eight in all died today, four from the bombs, and four after. Sighing with relief that none of them were Cali. " That will be my main goal for tomorrow, to find Cali...and to stay alive" I think to myself before I drift off to sleep.

I open my eyes to find my clothes and sleeping back drenched with sweat " Oh my god, why am I so hot?!" I crawl out of my sleeping bag and rip my jacket off. The air is thick and humid, I dig into my bag to find my water and chug it all down. Feeling slightly better, I now realize its still dark out, " Its probably really early in the morning...but why is it so ungodly hot?!". I start fanning myself, but suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I freeze, because there is this nagging feeling that I am not alone, I am being watched, someone is standing _right behind me_. Slowly, I look behind me, and on the other side of the creek is a large human silhouette. His features aren't clear, but they don't need to be, because I know exactly who it is,

_Talc._

Hhhhhey guuuys! Its been a little while and Im sorry :( I have this whole coming week and then school starts so I will write as much as I can I promise! I hope to bust out maybe two of three more chapters before school starts.

If you like it please favorite, follow and review!

Untill next time!

~Maddy


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

I sit in frozen terror, staring at him. There is no sneaking away now, he sees me, and he knows I see him. In one quick movement, I grab all my supplies and run for my life, literally. I get back on the dirt trail and follow it back up the hill. I normally would not want to out in the open, but there is no time to think or plan, just run. I make it up the hill and quickly look behind me. There he stands, at the bottom of the hill. Turning and running through the woods I run straight into a tree and fall to the ground, I wipe my bleeding nose and realize it wasn't a tree, it was a person.

She lies on the ground in front of me and swears under her breath, and I realize who it is " Cali!". Her features can't be made out in the dark, but I know its her " Odette!? Is that you?". " Shhh!" I put my hand over her mouth and pull her behind a fallen tree. " Look, you have to be quiet, Talc-". My whispering is interrupted by a snapping branch twenty feet behind us. It amazes me how someone so huge can move about so silently. We hold our breaths as we hear him slowly creep closer. My heart hammers in my chest so hard Cali can probably feel it.

I've never been a religious person. I've never believed in " A higher spirit" or stuff like that, but tonight, in this very moment, I pray. "_I don't know if anyone can hear me, I don't know if you even exist, but if there is someone up there that is watching over me and Cali right now, please keep us safe". _I mouth my simple prayer, and as if someone heard me, Talc runs off down the hill. After another minute, we both exhale shakily. " He probably didn't wanna waste time looking for us" Cali says. I'm about to agree, but what I see when I stand up makes my heart stop. There is a trail of clothes and supplies that I must have dropped, leading right to our hiding spot " But...why did he...?" I begin to say when Cali interrupts " Maybe the voices told him to spare us". I was about to answer when suddenly light broke through the trees and the darkness faded away. The " sun " begins to rise and fills the forest with light. We look at each other, and she pulls me into a hug " I'm so happy you're safe. I was so worried, but I was happy to see you made it to the night" she says. There was so much I needed to say,so much explaining that needed to be done. After a moment of silence, I decided to say " Thank you for saving me back there, but...why?". She looks at me with a baffled look " What do you mean why? We're allies! We have each others back!". " No, I meant why...why did you sit down with me?"

She sighs and says " Honestly...I'm not completely sure. When I saw you sit down...I..." she stops, as if shes at a loss for words " I was really scared. Scared for you, and everyone else. Then I saw Orion sit down with you, and I realized how stupid something like that would make the Capitol look, and I wanted to be a part of it. And...Friends don't let friends do rebellious things against the Capitol alone" she says with a smile "Thank you" I say, genuinely grateful for someone like her in a place like this.

After our adrenalin stops pumping, I remember how hot it is. " Hey do you know why its so hot?!". " No! It felt really good yesterday! You'd think the gamemakers would have more in store that it being hot". " Yeah, hey I'm out of water" I say. " Yeah me too, lets go to the lake". Before I can say anything she pulls out a large piece of paper " Is that...a map?". " Yup! map of the whole arena, see. We are here and the lake is over here, its not to far". I nod " Whats that?" I point to what looks like a small building. " Oh that's a barn there a couple other buildings around too". That seems very strange, why would there be buildings? It seems Cali read my mind because she says " I have a feeling this place was found, not built by the Capitol, but they added all the stuff they needed to". The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, it would explain the dirt trail. " Come on, I'm dying of thirst here" she says and pulls me along.

We walk cautiously at the bottom of the hill I tumbled down yesterday as we wipe the sweat off our foreheads every couple of minutes. She holds her Triton and I have my loaded blowgun. " Alright, the lake should be over here". We follow another small dirt trail and end up beside the top of a dam, which pretty much confirms our theory it was not built by the Capitol, but that is the least of our worries.

" The lake...its all dried up!" I cry. We stand there dumbfounded for a few moments. Any trace of water is now gone. Even the creek that leads to the lake and out out of the lake is dried up. " This is bad..." Cali says. Just the thought that we wont have water for at least a day makes it feel that much hotter. "Well, the best we could do is stay in the woods in the shade for today".

The woods did absolutely nothing. It seems the more we tried to hide from the heat, the hotter the gamemakers made it. Eventually dehydration kicks in. We try to eat, but our stomachs reject anything we put in our body. Nightfall comes, but it does not get better. We don't stop walking, fearing if we do we will die, as long as we are moving we are alive. So we walk around like a pair of drunk zombies for a while.

Eventually my legs give out from under me and I bring Cali down with me, we collapse from dehydration and heat stroke. We lie next to each other face down on the forest floor. _Is this it for us? Is this how we will die?_

Suddenly a very bright light cuts through the trees, _yes, this is it _I think to myself as I close my eyes. After a few minutes I feel something cold dripping on me. " Wha...?" I say and sit up. The bright colors hit me like a brick wall, I don't even recognize the forest. The once green leaves are now bright red, orange, brown and yellow. The thick and humid air is now replaced with cool air. I look down and the colorful leaves have painted the entire ground around us. The cold dripping continues, until I realize what it is, rain.

"Cali get up!" I yell. She slowly sits up and rubs her eyes. She opens them and her mouth drops in shock. Before she can say anything, it begins to downpour. " Its...its raining!" She screams in excitement. We kneel on the ground with our arms open, taking in this wonderful moment. We both take off our shirts and sit there in our bras washing the sticky sweat off our bodies. The cool water feels amazing on my bare skin. We catch the rain in our mouth and take our bottles and fill them up. We each empty our bottles twice and refill them.

After a while the rain stops. Now we are actually a bit chilly, but still grateful. We lean against an overturned tree and eat some of our food. " That was a nice surprise to wake up to" I say happily. " Yeah it was, but I still don't get it, what is the arena supposed to be? The first day was nice, like springtime. Yesterday was hot as hell, now today its like fall with the leaves". Then it hits me " I understand, every day is a different season! ". Cali thinks it over for a moment then says " That makes sense!" Then the look of fear covers her face " Whats wrong?" I ask. " The first day was spring, the second day was summer, today is fall. That means tomorrow...". I finally understand and my stomach drops. That means snow...and lots of it.

After we eat we follow the trail down the hill and to the right. After a few minutes the trail leans left and stops at a small wooden bridge across the creek. We cautiously cross it and go follow a trail beside the lake. " I don't feel safe right on the trail..." I say quietly. " Yeah, lets move into the forest".

This forest is different from the one we woke up in. There are no eye-popping colors, this is a pine forest, the leaves stay green year round. The ground is covered in orange pine needles. We walk in and come across scattered supplies and food. " Jackpot!" Cali says as she starts rummaging through the stuff. I'm about to join her until I see something that stops me in my tracks, a pickax. " Cali...wait..." I say when suddenly somebody bursts through the trees.

"Orion!" " Odette!? What are you doing!?" he says with a look of bewilderment. I'm just about to answer him when I notice the towering man standing behind Cali, _Talc_.

Time slows, seconds feel like minutes. I'm frozen with terror as Talc reaches his giant hands around Cali's head and twists it in an unnatural angle. A terrible snapping sound echos through the forest. Her eyes immediately lose focus and glaze over as her soul leaves her body . Finally, her eyes roll back into her head as Talc drops her lifeless body to the ground.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**_You need to find her and kill her! Yeah kill that bitch! NO! Don't kill her! Stop! Don't listen to him kill her! No! Yes! NO!_**

"STOP!" I scream in frustration as I punch myself in the head. The voices grow quieter, but they don't stop.

Most of the voices are for finding her and killing her, so that's what I will do.

I can never think for myself, without consequences that is, the voices always direct me on what to do. They don't always agree, so I just pick what most of them want. The voices have forced me to turn cold, to almost never show or feel emotion, but there are times when I do, and I dread those moments...

" Where would a girl like her be during the night? She would want to be hiding..." I walk down the dirt path, searching for any where a girl like her could be hiding... Walking down the hill I'm about to turn right when the voices get fired up again _**Stop! Stop!** _ Angrily sighing I whisper angrily " _what!?" **Your going the wrong way! Turn around, look behind you.**_Knowing I would regret not listening to them, I turn around and see what they mean. Off the dirt trail to the left is a very small, barely noticeable trail. _That's where she is._**  
**

Odette sleeps on the ground next to the creek peacefully, she looks beautiful. Before the voices even have a change she begins to wake up. Panicking I leap across the creek and wait on the other side. She sits up and crawls out of her sleeping bag as she rips her jacket off " Why is it so hot?!" she says out loud. Honestly this is the first time I notice the heat. She begins to fan herself, but then stops and turns around. Her eyes go wide with terror as she see me standing a few feet away.

We lock eyes for a moment, then she grabs her things and takes off. _**What are you waiting for?! Go after her! Kill her! **_Obeying the voices I go after her. I barrel through the trees and come to the main trail. Odette is already up the hill. She leaves a trail of clothes and supplies. Running up the hill I follow the trail of supplies, right behind a tree. _**Ha! That stupid bitch! Kill her! Do it now! She is the enemy! **_

The voices keep screaming in my head. At this point, they all want her dead. My body shakes and tears begin to emerge. _She must be so scared, she thinks I'm a monster, The way that she looked at me... _The tears cascade down my face and my body now violently shakes. I know deep inside me that's not how I want to come off, but it's how I always did, and how I always will. Knowing I will be punished, I turn around and walk away from the terrified girl.

_**What the hell are you doing!? Kill her!** _I don't even answer them, I keep going.

_**You worthless piece of shit! You can't do anything right! No wonder your parents left you! They saw how worthless you are!**_I sit down at the spot where Odette was sleeping moments ago, she probably wouldn't be coming back. Rocking back and forth I begin to violently sob " Stop...Please..." I beg.

_**Stupid! You should have killed yourself a long time ago!**_" No...NO!" I scream. I hate to resort to it, but hitting myself is the only way to calm the voices. They quiet down and I can finally breathe a sigh of relief and stop rocking. Still slightly shaking I look down at my hands and realize I had pulled out some of my hair. With a couple of deep breaths I stop shaking and lie down, eventually drifting off to sleep.

I wake up baffled " Where am I?" The trees are filled with bright colors and there is a slight chill in the air. " Did I sleep for a whole day?". If I did I'm not at all upset. Sleep is my only escape from my living nightmare. I would gladly sleep the day away, or my life for that matter...

I wash my face in the creek and make my way down the trail and over the bridge. To my left on the trail is a large pine forest. Suddenly someone walks out of the forest and crouches next to the lake washing his face and drinking, only twenty feet in front of me. He seems oblivious of me until he stands up to leave. We lock eyes and I realize who it is, the district twelve boy. His eyes go wide with terror and he bolts into the forest. **_Go after him! kill him! He's scum! He's the enemy!_**This time, I gladly obey the voices.

I barrel after him, gaining speed. He's nimbly dashes through the trees, which surprises me for his size, but I stay on his tail. I almost have him until he comes to where his supplies are, and I see two familiar faces. There stand Calypso and Odette. " Orion!" Odette says " Odette what are you doing here?!". Then I notice Calypso, she has her back to me, unaware of my presence, _**Kill her...she is the enemy...finish**_** her.**

I reach my hands around her neck and forcefully twist it, breaking it with a sharp SNAP that echos throughout the forest. Both of their eyes are on me as I let her lifeless body fall to the ground.

Odettes eyes go wide with horror as she lets out a blood curdling scream.

**Heey people! That's definitely a new way to look at Talc...or is it?**

**As I have said school is starting very soon which mean I wont have as much free time to write, but I will try my best because this story is far from being over!**

**If you like it so far please review, favorite and follow!**

**Until next time!**

**~Maddy**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Calis body falls to the ground with a _Thud! _as I let a blood curdling scream escape my lips. Orion grabs his pickax and swings it toward Talc, it misses his face by an inch. Rage washes over Talcs face as he backs up for each swing. Orion swings again and this time it grazes his chest. Talc lets out a yell as blood begins to soak through his shirt. They lock eyes and eventually Talc gives up and walks out of the forest.

Orion sighs with relief and turns around " Boy, hes a lot scarier in person huh?...Odette..?"

I kneel over her body and weep. I truly feel a part of me is gone. Cali wasn't just an ally, she was my friend,my only friend. She was the sister I never had, and now she's gone forever.

"Odette..." Orion says and kneels beside me " Its going to be ok...". I know hes trying to comfort me, but nothing will help my wounded heart. Suddenly they is a deafening sound overhead. Looking up, it's a hovercraft, here to take away Calis body. " Odette come on!" Orion says and tries to pull me away. I let him pull me aside, but I know I forgot something " Wait!" I say as I run up to Cali. I lower the collar of her shirt revealing a small silver seahorse necklace with a tiny blue gem. I need to have a small piece of her, so I remove the necklace just before the claw comes down to pick up her body. We stand and watch her body disappear into the hovercraft and fly away. As it flies away Orion and I press our three middle fingers to our lips and hold them out, as a final goodbye. _Farewell, my friend..._

Still sobbing, I turn to walk away when Orion grabs my arm " Wait Odette,". I don't even turn around to look at him " Maybe we should...stick together". I sigh and turn around " After what I just went through...I'm better off on my own". He looks down, disappointed " Alright, but before you go..." . He reaches in his bag and hands me something " I was hoping to run into you, so I could give you these...". In his hand is a thick black leather belt " Uhmm...thanks?" I say very confused. He chuckles and his whole face lights up " Open it up". Doing so, it reveals...Shurikens! " Oh my god, Orion how did you get these?" I ask. " Well, they were in the bag I happened to grab". I smile slightly " Thank you, Orion". I'm about to turn away, but Orion says " Odette...please, stay. I know you really cared about Calypso and now you're heart-broken but...please...trust me". I sigh and look him in the eyes, and see a man I can trust " Alright, I'll stay".

We sit around a small fire eating a rabbit with our weapons close. It might not be safe to have a fire during the night, but with Orion here, I feel safe. " Orion...can I ask you something...". He looks up, the fire glowing in this chocolate eyes " Yeah, whats up?". I swallow hard and ask the question that's been eating at me "...Why did you join me?". He looks away and sighs "I'm not exactly sure. What you did was stupid and dangerous...". "So you regret it". I say as I hand my head low. " No, not at all!". My head shoots up " I'd do it again in a heart beat!". " But...why did you do it?". He doesn't answer my question, instead he says " Odette...I know why you're here".

He doesn't have to explain, I know exactly what he means. Before I can say anything the Capitol anthem plays throughout the arena. Four people dead, there are eight of us left. The images disappear, and all is quiet again. After moments of silence I say " Who told you...?". " Onyx, he told me before the tribute interviews". " Honesty, you're the bravest person I've ever met". This takes be aback " R-really?" I ask. " Yes" he says with a smile. He sighs and looks my in the eyes " President Snow is a bastard, hes the reason 23 of us die a year. It takes someone with a lot of courage to stand up to him...You deserve to go home, to be able to rub it in his face, to be able to say his plan backfired". This takes me even more aback "But...what about you?!"

He looks at me with a sullen face " I have no life back home, we may be doctors but we don't have many takers. Hell, I have to hunt in the woods just to eat dinner most nights!". This shocks me the most " You...go and hunt in the woods?!". He sighs " Yeah, I even went the morning of the reaping...". I just stare at him with my jaw dropped " What, whats wrong?" he asks.

_Could it be? Was that him, that man I saw..._

The more I think about it, the more I realize its true, that was him in the woods. " The morning of the reaping...I went into the woods as well...and I saw a man...and I think it was you...". realization washes over his face " That was you...? I saw a girl with blonde hair in the woods. I was a little surprised, I never see anyone else back there. When I saw you on the stage, I thought it might have been you, but you looked too much like a girly girl to be in the woods!". " What! I'm not a girly girl!" I saw with my hands on my hips and a smile. He smiles too and puts his hands up " Hey, I call it as I see it!" he says and we both laugh.

he sighs, still smiling and says " I don't know, I just..." He picks up a pine cone and holds it in his hand " The forest...is like therapy for me. Its so tranquil and makes me feel at peace. When I'm in the forest, its the only time I truly feel..." He stops and looks at me, pine cone still in his hand "...Happy." he says with a dazzling smile, and I smile too. Then I feel a sudden chill in the air and a thought I had shoved back emerged. " Oh no...Orion, we need to find shelter...". " Why? whats wrong?" he asks somewhat alarmed. " We need to find shelter before...before it snows".

"Snows? How do you know it will snow?" he asks. He obviously doesn't understand, so I explain it to him the unusual weather patterns. Realization washes over him again " Shit..." he leans forward and furrows his brows, thinking. " I got it. there's a barn not far from here, we'll stay there". I nod and start packing our supplies.

Small flurries fall from the sky as we walk out of the forest " Over there" Orion says and points out the red barn. Weapons in hand, we start heading over.

It doesn't take long to reach the barn. The snow has already started sticking to the ground. The front of the barn is where the animals were kept. I follow him up the hill toward the back of the second story of the barn. He opens the doors and we quickly walk inside. The second story of the barn has wooden barrels, hay and an some very old wooden mechanisms. " Well, its better than nothing" Orion says. He puts the hay into one big pile and lies down. I set down my things and lie next to him. It doesn't take me long to drift off to sleep.

The first thing I see when I wake up is my breath. I realize my violent shivering woke me. I scoot closer to Orion and burrow my head in his shoulder. Light pours in from the window, and I see its not snowing, but that doesn't mean its not cold. Orion wakes up and jumps a little to see how close we are. " I-I'm sorry! I was just really cold and...". He smiles " Hey It alright It is seriously freezing!" He says and zips up his jacket. " I'm glad you knew what was up or we could have froze to death out there!".

He stands up and pulls out some berries and pops them in his mouth as I eat the dried beef. " I wonder how bad it is out there..." I think out loud. " When I'm done i'll go take a look" Orion says.

We finish breakfast and Orion takes his pickax and heads out " Stay here till I'm back alright?" " Alright!" I say reaching for my weapons, making sure they are close.

While hes gone I take some of of his berries and draw a target on the side of the barn. I spend the time I have alone throwing shurikens, and even blow a few darts.

An hour goes by and I'm getting nervous. A cannon has not gone off, but that doesn't mean everything is ok. What if he's hurt and bleeding out!

An hour and a half goes by, and I'm convinced something is wrong. I grab my shurikens and blowgun and as I'm about to head out the door opens and Orion steps inside. " Orion! Where the hell were you!? I was so worried! I was about to out and look for you!" I say almost on the verge of tears. " Hey, hey its alright I'm ok! Let me explain". We sit down and he tells me why he was gone so long " Well, the snow is about two feet deep, and its cloudy, so there is no sun. I walked about a quarter of a mile when I saw the three careers. I decided to follow them, you know, to see what they were up to. So I followed them to the lake, which is frozen, where they started setting up their camp". " Why would they set up camp on the frozen lake?". He shrugs " Not sure, guess they think its safer there than anywhere else". " Well, what are we going to do about that?" I ask. He smiles " I was hoping you'd say that".

" Well, we could just sneak up on them" Orion says. Shaking my head I say " No...I don't think that would work". " Well what do you think we should do?" he asks.

Rubbing my mouth I try to think of something when I see his pickax, and I have it.

" We could just go over and introduce ourselves". " What?! What the hell are you talking about?!"

" We could just go over and introduce ourselves, get to know them, _You know..."_ I pick up his pickax and say with a devilish smile,

"**_Break the ice..."._**

He immediately understands, and shares my devilish smile.

**Woo! and there you have it! Three whole chapters before school!**

**I don't know when I will have time to write again, so please hang in there!**

**Until next time!**

**~Maddy**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Orion and I pack our weapons and start making our way to the lake. We think of a game plan while we walk. " So, we'll split up, you go into the woods and distract them while I hit the ice until-" " Wait," I say, interrupting him. " ...I want to be the one to break the ice". A look of shock covers his face " But...are you sure? No offence but I think I might be more capable...". " Orion its just...I need to prove myself. I haven't done any good so far in the games...". " Odette you don't have to prove anything. You're alive, that says a lot!". As right as he is, I won't budge " You do have a point...but I still want to break the ice". He sighs and says " Alright, so here's the new game plan...".

The lake is on top of a hill, so we wait just below the top, out of sight. " Alright, you know what to do?" Orion asks. I nod " Alright,good luck" he says and hands me his pickax. He runs to the bottom and crosses the creek and makes his way up back to the woods. I only now realize I have begun to shake. This is my big moment, and I hope I don't screw up.

I peek over the top and see the Deimos, Aeila and Pearl sitting huddled with all their stuff in the middle of the lake. Suddenly there is a ruckus near the edge of the woods. That's my cue.

The careers slowly look up and begin to make their way to the edge of the woods. I grab the pickax and quietly move to the edge of the lake. I move the pickax in front of me and gab it with both hands and raise it above my head. I take a deep breath in, then out. Then, I bring it down hard on the ice.

There is a sizable hole in the ice, but it does nothing. I raise it above my head and bring it down again, and again.

" H-hey!" I hear. Looking up I see the careers looking at me. I can't see their facial expression, but they must be filled with rage. They begin to run over, and I know I only have moments. I raise it over my head for the final time and bring it down with a thundering **_CRACK!_**

The careers stop in their tracks. The ice cracks and rumbles for a moment, until the ice splits over the lake. The ice beneath the careers cracks and they fall into the freezing water, along with their supplies. Water rushes over the dam, splitting the ice over the creek. Orion appears at the edge of the woods jumping up and down with victory, when suddenly there is a sharp pain in my right side...and everything goes black.

_Orions POV_

I hear a loud _Crack! _and peer out of the woods just in time to see the careers fall through the ice. " Haha yes!" I say and jump up and down, we just took down the careers...or so I thought.

Deimos rises out of the water and pulls his upper body out of the ice. He leans on a chunk of ice and raises his bow and pulls an arrow back, pointing it as Odette.

I can only stand in frozen horror as the arrow flies from the bow, and plunges into Odettes right side.

* * *

" NO!" I scream. I rush to the dam and run across the top level to the other side. Odette lies passed out on the ground,blood is seeping through her jacket. I'm about to pick her up when I hear something behind me. Turning around, Deimos swims closer with a look of absolute rage. I grab the pickax and bring it down on his head. Blood, brain matter and bone splatter everywhere as his head implodes. I grab my pickax, sling Odette over my shoulder and run as fast as I can.

Bursting into the barn I delicately lie Odette on the hay, remove her jacket and lift up her shirt. I see exactly where the arrow hit and my heart stops.

" Err..." Odette blinks a couple times and says with a pained look" What...what happened?". " You broke the ice...and Deimos got you with one of his arrows". I swallow hard, brainstorming how I will save her, because I know I don't have much time. " It hurts..." she cries. "It ok Odette...you're going to be alright..." I try to say reassuringly, but fail. Her face turns somber when she sees where the arrow hit " I'm going to die..." she says. " Odette..." I say when she interrupts me. " Orion...I know where the appendix is, and I know how bad it can be if its punctured...".

Tears threaten to emerge, there is no use trying to console her. She knows how bad it is and I know how bad it is, the only way to save her is surgery. " Surgery...I can remove it" I say. " Have you done it before?" she asks "Yes". This is actually a lie. I've seen my father do it a couple times though, but I know what to do.

" I can do it...but I need the right equipment..." I say. I run my fingers through my hair as I pace the length of the barn.

_Please, someone, help me._

Suddenly something hits the roof and slides off. I go outside to see what it was, and I immediately know what it is and pull it in the barn. I remove the parachute and open the box t reveal a first aid kit and other medical supplies needed for surgery. " Whats...whats that?" Odette says quietly. " Its a miracle" I say.

I prepare the sedatives and place the mask over Odettes face. Soon she will be asleep and I can perform the surgery. " O...Orion..." she tries to say. " Shhhh, Don't fight it" I say " Trust me, everything will alright. You're going home Odette, I promise".

_Odettes POV_

* * *

My eyelids become heavy as I struggle to keep them open " Shhh, don't fight it" he says calmly. I slowly nod. He says something else, but I don't catch it. " ...Thank you..." I say softly. He gives me one of his dazzling smiles, and I smile too. I begin to shut my eyes, when I see something unsettling.

A large human figure stands outside the window In the darkness...watching... " O..Ori...Tal...". " Shh Odette, go to sleep" Orion says.

That's the last thing I hear before the darkness engulfs me.

* * *

I open my eyes to a very bright white light.

_Where the hell am I? Did I...die?_

Four people dressed in white appear out of the light standing over me. They are talking amongst themselves, but I can't make out what they are saying. Eventually, one notices me. " Oh shes awake!" she says. Everybody quiets down and looks at me. " Where...where am I?" I ask.

The one removes her mask and smiles.

" Congratulations Odette...

**_You've won"_**

**Annnnnnnd thats a wrap! Thank you everyone whos read this story Ive had a lot of fun writing it! But everything must come to an end...**

**IM KIDDING! This story is FAR from over! There are too many unanswered questions. Eventually, the answers will be discovered, and some are far more shocking than anyone could have guessed...**

**Untill next time!**

**~Maddy**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Congratulations Odette...

..._**You've won".**_

The words don't sink in, at all. "...What?" I say completely stunned. " You...you won...Princess" The doctor says and giggles. She must notice my still baffled look so she gets serious and says " Dear, you won the Hunger games! You're the victor!". The words finally sink in..."I...I won. But...what about Orion? Or Talc?". The doctor looks shocked " Sweetheart...they're dead!".

Of course they are. My head knew, but my heart didn't want to admit. Tears begin to emerge as I cover my mouth with both hands and sob. " Sweetheart, its ok" the doctor says and strokes my hair. " If it makes you feel better, Orion did a great job saving you. He did the best he could...". The tears streak down my face. Orion did help me, and now he's gone...

Soon enough we land in the Capitol. After putting me back in regular clothes I'm escorted out of the hovercraft. As soon as the doors open I'm blinded by the flash of the hundreds of cameras. " Princess, over here!" Hundreds of people scream. _" Princess?" _I think to myself.

I burst into our original penthouse " Onyx!? Lysithia!?...Charon?". Charon stands in the middle of the room with his back to me. Upon hearing me he turns around " Hello Odette, its marvelous seeing you" he says with a smile. There is something odd about him, he's not his normal self. Usually hes giddy and jumping up and down with a glued on smile. But now...he stands there, perfectly calm. And his smile...he looks...genuinely happy to see me.

" Hi Charon! Wheres Onyx?" I ask. His smile disappears and a look of sadness and fear wash over him for a split second, but then he smiles again...than fake plastic smile I'm used to..." Oh! He took a ...vacation while you were gone. I'm sure he's very proud of you though Odette, I mean we all are!". _  
_

"_He...he just left? But...why?". _Something wasn't right, but I didn't have time to ask or say anything " Oh my look at the time! We need to get you dressed for your second interview!" He says and leads me to the elevator.

Once again I burst into Lysithias studio " Lysithia?!". There is no sign of her, only a green haired man. " Hello Odette, my name is Atticus". " Hi, wheres Lysithia?". " Oh, shes went on a ...vacation, But I'm sure she'll be back soon. For the time being, I'll be your stylist".

Something is definitely wrong, the way both Charon and Atticus paused on the word " vacation". But I still don't have time to think about it, " Now, lets get you dressed for your interview!". He leads me to a closet and opens it to reveal a beautiful but dark outfit. " Lysithia put it together before she went away" he says " Now, lets get you into it!".

Two peace keepers stand by my side as I wait behind the curtain. Claudius is talking about the games and finally, its my time. " Now, its time to meet the victor for the first time after the games. Give a round of applause to Odette Bloodwell! Victor of the first Quarter Quell! Princess of District Twelve!". As he says this, I put my head down "_Its show time"._

The curtain pulls away, revealing me. I wear a black, sleeveless dress that wraps around my neck and falls to the floor with a train. There are three see though sections in the dress. My hair is up and I wear dark black makeup and red lipstick. Around my eyes, I wear a full lace masquerade mask. ( I know you all must be tired of me badgering you to go to my polyvore account, but if you choose any outfit to go see PLEASE SEE THIS ONE! I consider this one to be the best outfit I've made yet. Just the way is has this funeral feel to it I just really love this one! If you forget Its Phoenixrider) I slowly lift my head and walk toward Claudius. The crowd gasps with approval. He takes my hand and kisses it and we sit.

He looks at me with a huge smile " So Odette,we meet again! How does it feel to be back!". I force a smile and say " It feels truly amazing, I feel very blessed". " And you should! You fought very hard Odette! You deserve to be here!". We continue to talk for a few minutes. Then I'm lead to the balcony where President sits. He stands up and I move in front of the chair. He delicately places the solid gold crown on my head. " Congratulations" he says quietly through his teeth. His eyes meet mine and a chill rushes down my spine. His eyes are two black holes, devoid of any feelings other than rage and embarrassment.

What happens next it a tradition that abruptly stopped after the first Quarter Quell. I sit on the throne that is usually occupied by Snow, and he stands next to me as we prepare to have our picture taken. I remove my lace mask and hold it in my lap. He places his hand on my left shoulder and squeezes it. " Smile!" The camera man says as he takes a photo with a large camera that stands on three legs.

This must have been the worst moment of his life. The person he intended to kill off in the games for disobeying him is now sitting on his throne. For once in his career as president, he failed.

His Failure, My Victory.

* * *

I sit on my bed staring out my window at the Capitol disappearing in the distance. The farther we move away from it, the better I feel. There is one nagging question that wont leave me alone "_ How did I actually win the games?"_. I find it odd they didn't even mention it in the interview. They will eventually play reruns, but I'm an impatient person._ " Charon must know, he will tell me"._

I move through the train cars searching for him when suddenly the train comes to a stop. Charon comes through the door on the other side of the car. " Charon! I've been looking for you! We need to talk" I say.

"Yes, yes we do" He says with a stone cold face as he leads me outside, away from the train.

**I'm really sorry this took so long and this is also a short chapter. All of you have question and I'm happy to say they will be answered in chapters to come! And some will be very shocking... ( hint, some characters you've read about in Hunger games, Catching Fire and Mocking Jay will make an appearance...) WHAT!? Yes I am aware, its crazy!**

**So what do you think Charon wants to talk about? And why can't it be discussed on the train? **

**Until**** next time!**

**~Maddy**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Odette's eyes close, shes finally asleep. I sigh with relief, even though the hardest part is to come. _" Alright, lets do this" _I think to myself. The whole country is watching me, I have an audience for my first surgery.

* * *

The whole nerve wracking experience takes about an hour, but It was a success. I sew Odette up and tie it. Finally its over. I plop down on the hay and lie there taking deep breaths. I suddenly feel exhausted. I want to stay awake, to wait till Odette wakes up, But my eyes grow heavy until...

My eyes fly open after what feels like seconds, and I realize immediately something is wrong. The air is thick and the room is hazy with black clouds. A deafening sound gets to me and I realize its the sound of flames engulfing the barn.

**_The barn is on fire._**

I jump up and grab Odette, who is still passed out on the ground, the thought of leaving her doesn't even cross my mind. My senses are dampened by the smoke, I have lost all sense of direction. Finally I find the doors of the barn and kick them open.

Odette and I fly out and land hard on the ground. I expected there to be snow so I just went for it, but there is non.

The air outside is only slightly better, its thick and humid, which means it must be "Summer" again. Which also explains how the barn is burning so quickly.

After a couple of minutes of coughing and hacking the putrid smoke out my system I pick up Odette and move her away from the barn, which is now completely enveloped in flames.

_"Why is she still asleep? I might have gave her too much anesthesia, or...". _I lower my head to her chest to make sure shes still breathing. Thankful, she is. The smoke must have helped keep her knocked out.

_"She looks so peaceful... like she's sleeping in a meadow. Away from this terrible game. If I can help it, soon, she will be". _My thoughts are interrupted by the sudden chill that goes through my body, and I have the sudden feeling that I'm being watched, that someone is **_ behind_ me...**

I slowly turn around and to my horror, standing twenty feet away is Talc slick with blood standing in front of the burning barn. The flames give off light that allows me to see his features, and he does not look happy.

I slowly rise to my feet. In his hand is a bloody club. I start to panic, thinking I will have to fight him with my bare hands, then I look down at my feet and see my pickax _" Funny, I don't remember bringing it out..."_

I pick it up and slowly walk towards Talc.

" What do you want?" I say. The heat from the barn is almost unbearable.

"What do you mean? This is the finale". He says with an evil grin. " What...what do you mean?" I ask. " What about the others?". Last time I checked there were two careers that survived.

" Dead" he says flatly. " It's just you, me..." He turns his head toward sleeping Odette " ...and _her"._

He rushes toward her but I block him and shove him back. He raises his club and brings it down on my chest, hard. I feel my ribs crack as I kneel over and cough up blood. Once I get myself together I look up to see him about to swing at me again, but this time I dodge.

I raise my pickax and swing it at him and it lands in his lower side. "AAAAGHHHHH" he screams in pain. It wasn't deep, but I it should slow him down.

His blood smeared face, black eyes, and the vengeful look on his face...he looks like a demon. Now hes angrily whispers to himself. I could have taken advantage of this, but it felt...wrong. Hes not evil...hes sick. He didn't ask for this...

Next thing I know, he swings the club at my head and knocks me to the ground. Alarms are going off in my head to fight back or run, but I can do neither.

" Talc...P-please...Don't wanna...Hurt you..." I say through my dizziness.

For a moment, all anger leaves his face. His face softens and his eyes grow wide. He drops the club and I think he has surrendered, but he hasn't.

He picks me up by my throat and has me in a choke hold. "_At least it will be quick" _I think to myself, thinking he will break my neck. That's not what he has in mind at all.

As I struggle for breath, he drags me toward the still burning barn, and I realize my fate.

I don't fight, instead I mentally say goodbye to my loved ones, my friends and family.

_" I'm sorry Odette"_ I say out loud, the feeling of failure washes over me. I just wanted her to go home, after all shes done, she deserves it most. I stare at her, hoping she will get up and move, run away, but she doesn't.

At that moment, I'm thrown into the blazing barn. At first its unbearable, seething pain . The only thing I hear is my own screaming. But its not too long until I feel nothing, and the darkness consumes me.

* * *

I watch Orion scream and withe in pain from the fire. After about a minute he stops and falls to the ground. By now he is burnt beyond recognition. His black, charred body twitches in the immense flames.

**Haha yes! For once you did something good! NO! You weren't supposed to kill him! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!**

" STOP!" I scream in frustration.

To my amazement, the voices listen, and they stop completely.

All I hear is the crackling of the flames, but other than that, silence. I feel as If a thousand pound weight has been taken off my shoulders, but is replaced by a million pounds. I fall to my knees and with this new-found freedom, everything comes back. All those people I killed... The careers, Orion, my siblings..

Slowly, sadness and regret wash over me " _Why did I listen to the voices!? People think I'm a monster...I just want to be free...how will I live with myself?"_

I look up at the barn just in time to see it collapse, trapping Orions body inside. " _I'm so sorry"._

Slowly I get up and walk over to the sleeping girl. She looks so peaceful, so beautiful...

I kneel beside her and weep, "_my whole district hated me, but why would they vote for you...?". _

My plan was to come here and kill both of them, but at this moment, I know I can't do it. "_I'm not a monster...I'm not a monster..." _I say over and over. The tears don't stop coming. " _...I'm a monster..."._

Still sobbing, I slowly pull out my token, A small mouse figurine wearing bright red pants. The doctor I live with didn't have much, but when he had free time we would watch a_ very_ old cartoon he found involving a mouse and his other animal friends...Micky Mouse. It was the only thing that brought me real joy.

I sit and sob holding the figurine close. This is the longest span of time where the voices went away completely. I know there is no life for me back home...but Odette...

I stare at her and something catches my eye. A leather belt that holds sharp shuriken.

...and I know what I must do.

I carefully remove one and hold it to my wrist. "_ I'm a monster...I'm a monster..." _ I say over and over as I slash away at my wrists. I put the shuriken down after my whole arm is slick with blood. It shouldn't be long now...

The feeling of dizziness soon forces me to lie down. Suddenly a large ray of light come over the horizon, The sun is rising. Although I know its fake, Its beautiful. For once in a long time, I smile. " _Soon it will be all over...all the pain and regret will disappear...". _

I don't fear death, because I know it will bring an end to the pain. Instead, I enjoy the last peaceful moments I have left. The birds happily chirping, the blowing wind, and also the silence inside my head.

My vision begins to fade and become hazy. I know the end is coming, but I'm not scared...

I embrace it. I hold Micky Mouse to my heart and welcome the end with tears of joy.

* * *

In his final moments, Talc realized that his biggest enemy wasn't any of the tributes, or his family, or even President Snow and the Capitol.

His biggest enemy... was himself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Charon leads me outside and we walk far away from the train, until it's almost out of sight. " Hey I've been meaning to ask you-" " You don't realize what you've done, do you?" he interrupts. The way he says it takes me back. His stupid capitol accent disappears and his face grows serious and it's actually kinda scaring me. " Wha...What do you mean?"

He chuckles, but keeps his serious face. " What you pulled at the beginning of the games, you really thought that went unnoticed?". I honestly had forgotten all about it, with everything else on my mind. " I...I'm sorry Charon...I...I wasn't...I didn't realize how bad it would turn out..." I say with my eyes starting to water.

" Bad? Odette...it wasn't bad..." he looks me in the eyes and says with a smile.

" It was brilliant".

"But...but you said..." I say shocked. " I know what I said, but I didn't mean it in a bad way. We are all very proud of you Odette, including Onyx".

" It was...good? How?". " You made a fool out of President Snow, and that's exactly what we want and what we need". All these words are making no sense to me " Who...who's we? I ask."

He sighs and says " Odette there is something you don't know about the people that have been around you for the past few weeks". He takes a deep breath and says...

" Onyx was the leader of a rebel group that's trying to overthrow the Capitol".

I stand there with a blank stare. The words don't sink in at first, but soon it makes sense. " But... how do you know this?" I ask. He smiles and says...

" I know this because...I'm in it too, as is Lysithia".

My jaw drops open. All this time...

" Was this all...planed?" I ask. He shakes his head " No, not at all. Not until we found out you refused to vote" He looks away and sighs " I had no choice but to report you to President Snow when I found out , and I felt bad...only for a bit though".

" So...I WAS just a part of your plan!". He sighs again and says " It certainly seems that way doesn't it? We were all upset when we were forced to put you in the games, but we also knew you were special. It takes a brave person to refuse the Capitol. Once we met you, we knew you could handle it".

So many questions run through my head " Why didn't you tell me earlier?". " It was way too dangerous for you to know right away. If we would have been found out, you would know nothing and be let go". I nod my head, understanding, but not understanding at the same time.

" If you guys are against the Capitol, why do you work for them?". He smiles and says " Oh a lot of us do! There's this old saying, Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. By being close to them, we can gather useful information that we can use against them". Once again I nod.

I swallow hard and force my next question out, knowing it wont be a good answer.

" Charon...where are Onyx and Lysithia really at?". His face grows grim " Honestly, I don't know exactly. But I do know we will most likely never see them again".

I nod as tears start to gather in the corner of my eyes " But if this was your plan all along, why was Onyx so upset when we told me?".

" Oh Odette, we still care about you very much, especially Onyx. He saw you as a daughter. It killed him that we had to keep this secret from you".

Slowly, I start to sob as I think of him and everything he taught me, and that I will never see him again. " I know this is a lot to take in Odette, and I'm so sorry we kept this from you. I understand completely if you are angry and-" " No..I'm not angry..." I say, cutting him off. " I just wish I would have known. You could have at least told me you guys were against the Capitol".

He smiles and says " I really fooled you, didn't I?. " Yes! you were so obnoxious and flamboyant I wouldn't have guessed in a million years!". We both laugh till our sides hurt, and honestly I needed it after today.

Finally when we are able to compose ourselves, I ask one last question.

" So...what happens when we get home?"

" Well, with Onyx gone, I will take over the rebel group. We hope his son will eventually take over as leader". " Wait, Onyx has a son?" I ask.

" Yes, his son is ten years old, his name is Plutarch. He has been taught the evils of the Capitol and despises them as well, so we hope in the future he will take over for his dad".

He then takes me by the shoulder and says " And as for you Odette, you need to live as if you know nothing. Don't give any hints that you even know why you were really in the games. Just keep smiling for the cameras and say what they want to hear, understand?".

" I understand, Ill keep quiet. As long as you keep me updated with the rebels" I say with a smile. He smiles back and says " Of course". We begin to slowly walk back when he says " Oh! and there's one other thing you should know... Have you heard of District Thirteen?"

* * *

I lie on my stomach at the end of my bed and watch the projection on the wall, The replays of the Games. Over the course of three hours I re-live everything that happened to me, and see what was happening with everyone else.

Soon it gets to the point where I'm unconscious and being operated on. I being to bite my nails, knowing, but not knowing what will happen.

* * *

It ends with me getting my picture taken with Snow. I immediately shut off the projector and sit in the darkness.

_Orion protected me till the very end...and Talc...he took his own life..._

I immediately begin sobbing. _  
_

_All this time, I saw him as a monster...but he wasn't...he just had a terrible curse.._

_...and Orion...he really did care..._

His words replay in my mind, "_ You deserve to go home..."_

I spend that night sobbing in the darkness

* * *

He stands alone in his room looking out the window to the Capitol below, sipping away at his tea. As hard as he tries, he cannot get the thought of the beautiful blond girl from District Twelve out of his head. He squeezes the cup so hard it almost brakes. That girl... thoughts of her bring anger and rage, but he also chuckles. She beat him fair and square at his own game, he cannot deny that. She is special, she is powerful...she is hope for the other districts, and that is unacceptable.

The door behind him opens and in walks the head gamemaker. He joins Snow at the window and says" So..what now?" he asks.

Snow thinks for a bit and answers " I'm not sure, This has never happened before...".( if President Snow seem OOC its because this is only his fifth year as president, hes new to this. As he gets older he will learn a lot more...) " Well, hurting her by taking away her stylist and mentor was a good idea!" says the gamemaker. " Yes, that should be punishment enough for her, but..." he stops mid sentence.

" I'm worried" Snow says. "What? About Odette?" he asks. " No, I'm worried about the tributes she will train in years to come. She has already made big impact on the country. What if she trains the tributes as she was trained? I also have a feeling she knows more than she should..."

" So, what do we do?". " We constantly watch. I also want the food supply that is currently being sent to district twelve to be cut in half". " Yes sir" he says and begins to walk away. Before he gets to the door he turns around and says " Sir, what do you want done with the stylist, Lysithia".

" Move her to a different part of the Capitol and change her name. She will never be a stylist for the games again".

"Understood" He says, " One last thing..." "Yes?" Snow asks.

" What do you want done with Onyxes remains?"

* * *

" Hello? Anybody home?" I ask as I step inside my house. Instead of a response I'm only met with silence, but for once, I don't even care.

I head up to my room and slowly sit on my bed.

This feeling is so strange...its only been a couple of weeks but these objects around me seem so...foreign.

I notice something on my bedside table I don't recognize, but after I pick it up I remember exactly what it is.

The tiny crimson leaf I had found in the forest the day of the reaping has been sitting here all this time. Its now mostly grey shriveled up, but I realize...we have a lot in common.

Since the first time we both met we have changed drastically, just not in the same way. One thing that has changed about both of us is we have both gotten older. The leaf that was once fresh and young and deep red has dried up to almost nothing, while I just got older mentally.

But one thing that hasn't changed about the leaf, is what it symbolizes. It symbolizes me before the games, innocent and unaware of the horrors human kind is capable of.

Slowly, without even thinking, I crush the leaf with my hand. I open it and let the dust fall to my feet, as I say goodbye to the girl I used to be.

* * *

Its been a whole year since the games, and tomorrow it will start all over again, but this time will be different. from here on out I will mentor the tributes and make sure they are ready to fight to the death. But right now, I push the thought out of my head.

Its 6:30 A.M. I stand on the outside of the gate and look in. The sunrise that once moved me to tears does nothing for me now. Without a second thought I crawl between the gap and head into the forest.

The last time I was here, I was a different person, but what hasn't changed is how I feel when I'm here.

_When I'm in the forest, its the only time I truly feel...Happy_

Orion's words replay in my head over and over again. The tears begin to blur my vision.

I don't realize it, but I'm standing in the same spot I was standing in a year ago. With my vision still blurred I turn around and my heart stops.

Standing twenty feet away, in the exact same spot he was a year ago is Orion. Only now I see his details, his smile... But I blink and he's gone.

My vision blurs completely and I have no choice but to kneel to the ground and sob. As I kneel here in this moment of weakness my hand goes to my necklace and I wrap my fingers around the three charms that hang there...

A seahorse for Cali

A pine cone for Orion

And a Mickey Mouse head for Talc.

* * *

For twenty-five years Odette mentored the children that were reaped, but once they got on the hovercraft she never saw any of them again. She tried her hardest to mentor them like she was mentored, but she could never find a child with the fire inside of them like she had. Until she met Haymitch...

From the first moment they met, she knew he was special. She immediately started her training, mainly focusing on him. They grew very close, and he learned all her secrets of her Hunger Games. But she was hesitant to tell him about the rebel group.

Once Haymitch won the games and came back home, he found her house empty with only a goodbye note. He was told she was taken away for what Haymitch did, and he was heart-broken.

He always had a strange feeling about the note, but never really looked into it.

* * *

Lysithia was moved to the other side of the city and had her name changed. She was on constant supervision by the president, and they eventually found out she was in a rebel group and killed her.

Before she was killed, she had a son. Snow agreed to let him live on the condition that he would work for the Capitol and she agreed.

**She named him Cinna.**

**Wow that was a lot of info for one day. I know this looks like the end of the story right? WRONG! There is actually A LOT more to this story so don't cry yet!**

**Im SO sorry this took so long to put out Im so friggin busy lately with life its cray. I will try my best to write when I can! oh btw Odettes last forest outfit is on polyvore too and honestly this is my second favorite outfit!**

**Until**** next time!**

**~Maddy**


	18. Epilogue: Part 1

Epilogue: Part 1

_Its been 25 years after the rebellion, 75 years after Odette won the Hunger games. Katniss, Peeta, and Haymitch live a quiet, peaceful life in District Twelve living in the Victor Village. Katniss and Peeta have two kids, a daughter Willow who is 12, and a son Arley who's 10._

_After years of not being able to emotionally do it, Peeta finally agreed to search through what was left of the family bakery and house._

We stand side by side with our fingers interlocked. " Are you sure you can do this?" I ask. I know this is hard for him, seeing his whole childhood in ruins before him. He slowly nod his head " Yeah, lets do this".

Only part of his house was destroyed in the bombs, which is surprising, but its still been 25 years, so its gotten pretty bad. We spend about an hour going through the first and second floor, removing all personal items and furniture that has made it. Finally, we make our way into the attic.

While I'm going though a box of pictures, Peeta come up to me " Katniss, look what I found in my moms jewelry box!" he says and holds out a gold locket_._

_" _What about it?" I ask, not completely sure why hes making a big deal out of it. " Open it up" he says.

I open the locket and inside on the right is a picture of a beautiful blonde girl. The word _Princess is _engraved on the left side, along with the name _Odette Bloodwell _and a date.

"Peeta...who is this?" I ask. " I don't know! I'm still trying to figure out who it is!". I look a little closer and exclaim " Oh my god Peeta look at the date! This necklace is at least seventy-five years old!". He talks a closer look at the locket and says " Bloodwell...I had an uncle with that last name...I guess that's how we are related". My curiosity has peaked, this girl seems different, I want to know more about her. " You know what, I wonder if Greasy Sae would know her" I say. " Well, its worth a shot" Peeta says.

We walk into the house, having only brought the necklace. Greasy Sae is in the kitchen doing dishes. Ever since my mother left she has insisted on staying to take care of the house and watch the kids when we need it.

She hears us walk in and turns around " Oh hello! Did you guys find anything interesting?". We both chuckle and I say " Interesting to say the least".

I hold out the open locket for her to see " Sae...do you know who this is?". She squints to see it, but once she does her jaw drops and eyes go wide. The dish she was holding falls to the floor with a **CRASH!**

"Oh my god Sae! Whats wrong?!" Peeta goes over to her and keeps her from fainting. "Where...where did you get that..?" she asks. " It was in my moms jewelry box, why do you know her? Who is she?" Peeta says.

Greasy Sae doesn't say anymore. Instead she places her hand over her mouth as tears begin to fall. She picks up the locket and just looks at the girl "_...Oh Odette..." _She says softly.

Suddenly, The front door opens and in walks Haymitch (He has been doing well to stay sober, with the occasional drink) " Hey everybody whats happening..." he says but slowly stops as he sees whats happening in the kitchen. " Damn... I always miss the drama" He says. Greasy Sae steps forward with the locket and holds it out to Haymitch. " Haymitch...look what the kids found" she says. Haymitch takes it and opens it up. He has a similar reaction "...Where the hell did you get this!?" He says with a shocked look. " It was in my moms jewelry box! Why is everybody freaking out!?" Peeta says.

Haymitch sighs and says " ...You really don't know who this is, do you?". " No! All I know is that we are related! Would someone please explain who this girl is!?"

Haymitch nods and visibly holds back tears as he says" Her name is Odette Bloodwell, but most people know her as Princess of District Twelve, Victor of the 25th Hunger games..._My mentor"._

There is a brief pause as Peeta and I try to wrap our heads around what Haymitch just said. Finally Peeta says " Shes...the first victor of District Twelve...". " That would be correct". " ...She won the first Quarter Quell..." I say. " Gee, I didn't know it was National Obvious day".

" And...I'm related to her..." Peeta says, finally letting it sink in. Now its his turn to almost faint. He plops down in a chair and after a bit says " I'm...I'm related to the first victor of District Twelve! " He says and giggles. " That's so cool!" He says excitedly. " So, what happened to her? Is she still alive?!" He asks.

" Nobody knows..." He says not making eye contact. " WHAT!? But...but..." Peeta immediately looks disappointed. Haymitch sighs again and says " When I came home from the Capitol, she was gone. Everybody had their own story of what happened to her. The most popular was she was taken away for what I did, just like my family...But others say she committed suicide. I really didn't know what to believe, so I ignored the stories and just got over the fact that she was gone..." He holds back more tears and says

" She was like my mother throughout the games. We had so much in common it was insane, and..." He abruptly stops and says " Ah, Im sorry, I just..got carried away...". But his explanation isnt enough for Peeta " But..! There had to be something she left behind! Should couldn't just disappear!".

" Well, she did leave me a note-" " Where is it?! What does it say!?" Peeta says jumping out of his chair. " WHOA. Calm down! Its back at my house. Why don't we go over and I'll tell you about her story". " Ok, that sound good" I say. As we head for the door.

Before I walk out the door I turn around to see Greasy Sae standing with the locket over her heart, quietly sobbing.

**WELL HOT DAMN. **

**I know its not much of a cliff hanger, but it'll have to do.**

** this is what I meant when I said Old characters will come into play, but I bet you never expected THIS!**

**Now we have a mystery on our hands...What actually happened to Odette? What do you guys think? Did she actually die? Or...?**

**WELL WE'LL FIND OUT VERY SOON!**

**Until Next Time!**

**~Maddy**


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